Running With The Wind: Book One: A Living Lie
by Akari Miniwara .Starflight
Summary: Squirrelflight finds herself expecting Hawkfrost's kits. She's nervous about it, but she gives birth to them, and since Hawkfrost looks exactly like Brambleclaw, she lets it go. When the kits are born, everything is fine except one kit has blue eyes......
1. Allegiances

**Well, as most of you know now, I had to switch accounts, because my old one is frozen. Also, if you followed me on my old account, you'd know that Akane, the author of this story, has passed away. When she passed, I put all of her computer files into one folder. Now that a lot of time has passed, I remember this old story. She has about 10 chapters typed, and I remember her asking me if I'd continue this story if something went wrong with her kidney transplant. I've decided that I'll be putting up the ten chapters, and if the rest of you want me to, I'll continue typing the story for her. Arigato Gozaimasu!**

**Leader**-Firestar-handsome ginger tom

**Deputy**-Brambleclaw-dark brown tabby tom with amber eyes

Apprentice-Berrypaw

**Medicine Cat-**Leafpool-light brown tabby she-cat with amber eyes

Apprentice-Molepaw

**Warriors-**Dustpelt-dark brown tabby tom

Apprentice-Hazelpaw  
Sandstorm-pale ginger she-cat

Apprentice-Honeypaw  
Cloudtail-long-haired white tom

Apprentice-Cloudpaw  
Brackenfur-golden brown tabby tom  
Thornclaw-golden brown tabby tom

Apprentice-Poppypaw  
Brightheart-white she-cat with ginger patches  
Graystripe-long-haired gray tom  
Ashfur-pale gray (with darker flecks) tom, dark blue eyes  
Rainwhisker-dark gray tom with blue eyes

Sorreltail-tortoiseshell and white she-cat with amber eyes  
Squirrelflight-dark ginger she-cat with green eyes  
Spiderleg-long-limbed black tom with brown underbelly and amber eyes

Apprentice-Mousepaw

Whitewing-white she-cat with green eyes

Birchfall-light brown tabby tom

**Apprentices-**Berrypaw-cream colored tom with amber eyes and half of a tail

Hazelpaw-small gray and white she-cat

Mousepaw-gray and white tom

Poppypaw-tortoiseshell and white she-cat with blue eyes

Honeypaw-light honey brown tabby she-cat

Molepaw-gray tabby tom with amber eyes

Cinderpaw-gray tabby she-cat with blue eyes

**Queens-**Ferncloud-pale gray (with darker flecks) she-cat, green eyes expecting Dustpelt's kits  
Daisy-cream-colored, long-furred cat from the horseplace

Squirrelfight-dark ginger she-cat with green eyes, mother of _Brambleclaw's_ kits, Hawkkit (dark brown tabby tom with blue eyes), Tawnykit (ginger, brown, and black she-cat), Tigerkit (dark brown tabby tom with amber eyes), and Emberkit (bright ginger tabby she-cat)

**Elders-**Mousefur-small dusky brown she-cat

Longtail-pale tabby tom with black stripes, retired early due to failing sight

**The prologue is up next~!**


	2. Prologue: Forbidden Love

**Here's the prologue! Enjoy~!**

**Prologue**

Squirrelflight had argued against Brambleclaw seeing Hawkfrost all of those times because she was afraid that Hawkfrost might tell him that they were lovers. At his death, Squirrelflight could only stare in horror when she heard her mate had died.

Now, she was in the comfort of the nursery, gazing down at her kits that had been born only heartbeats before. Brambleclaw rushed into the nursery, and looked at Squirrelflight. "They're beautiful," he purred.

"I'm so glad you're the father," Squirrelflight lied, purring too. She didn't love Brambleclaw the way she did for Hawkfrost, but he was a close second. She could grow to love him too.

"What do you want to name them?" Brambleclaw asked.

"I'm not sure. I think we should name them after cats that are important to us though," Squirrelflight meowed.

"Hmm, she's not exactly perfect, I mean look-wise, but we could call the black, ginger, and brown she-cat Tawnykit. I'm not insulting her, if that's what you think! I just meant that she doesn't look exactly like Tawnypelt," Brambleclaw stuttered.

"She looks almost exactly like my father, except she's a tabby, so why don't we call her Emberkit?" Squirrelflight suggested, a bit of warmth rising in her chest as she thought about her father.

"I know you're going to absolutely hate this idea, but why don't we call him Tigerkit? If he grows up into a strong warrior, and is nothing but pure, it would get the blame off of the name 'Tiger,'" Brambleclaw meowed.

"Yeah, it is _only_ a name," Squirrelflight agreed, her direction took a curve though. The last kit looked exactly like Hawkfrost, and then, the unnamed tom slowly opened his eyes, they were pure blue, just like his father's!

"Wow, I don't think that any cat in our family has blue eyes…" Brambleclaw started.

"Redtail did!" Squirrelflight covered quickly, she didn't really know if he did or not, but Brambleclaw never knew anything about her mother's father, so it was a safe guess.

"Oh, that explains it then," Brambleclaw mewed.

"Since we're naming the kits after cats we know, why don't we call him Hawkkit?" Squirrelflight meowed. "I know I didn't like him, but you did, and he was your half-brother, so I think it's only fair."

From the happy look on his face, Squirrelflight knew that he was going to run over to Firestar immediately with the happy news.

"As you all know, my daughter was expecting Brambleclaw's kits. Now the four of them are with us. The two decided to name them after cats that are special to them in some way. Their names are Tawnykit, Emberkit, Hawkkit, and Tigerkit," Firestar announced.

Shocked gasps echoed around the clearing, but Squirrelflight knew that the clan would get used to the names _eventually._

**Well, I'll post chapter one after I get a couple of reviews. I hope the old readers will find this and start reading again! Please drop a review, I'll see what you think of it, and maybe Akane will too. Sayonara~!**


	3. Chapter One: Extinguished Flames

**Well, thank-you Kawakage for reviewing, but I'm a bit frustrated. 89 people read this story yesterday, and only one person reviewed. Will someone please review this? Akane was always so happy getting all of the reviews she got, so please, review. It's not that difficult. Well, anyways, things aren't gory in this chapter, but I've read up to chapter five so far, and it gets...not very pretty. Also, there's a typo in the allegiances. It says that Cloudtail is training Cloudpaw, but that's obviously wrong. He's training Cinderpaw.**

**Chapter One**

Hawkkit rushed out of the bramble nursery and bumped into one of the senior warriors, Brightheart. "I'm sorry Brightheart!" he meowed, looking up at the scarred she-cat.

"Don't worry about it, Hawkkit. You and your siblings must be excited; I mean your apprentice ceremony is going to be tonight. Hey, Berrypaw, Hazelpaw, and Mousepaw are going to have their assessment today. If Firestar allows it, do you want to go and watch them?" Brightheart asked.

"Really?" Hawkkit squeaked, a gleam in his bright blue eyes. He had always wanted Brightheart to be his mentor, and it would be great if she was. When Ferncloud gave birth to Foxkit and Icekit, his mother often sent him out of the nursery, and it was then when he had bonded with the she-cat.

"Really," Brightheart promised. "I'm going to go and ask Firestar now." As soon as the she-cat made it up onto the Highledge, Hawkkit followed. A few rocks crumbled and fell off of the ledge, and he squinted, hoping that he wouldn't be discovered.

"Ah, Brightheart, come in," Firestar meowed. "What do you need?"

"You see, I haven't mentored any cat because of my injury, but Hawkkit is different. I want to mentor him, and I offered to take him out to watch Berrypaw, Hazelpaw, and Mousepaw's assessments. You talked about letting me mentor one of them, so I was going to ask him then if he could be my apprentice…if you allowed it," Brightheart explained.

"Hmm, I normally don't allow kits out of the camp until they reach their sixth moon, but I think that this is important to you. Brambleclaw, Dustpelt, and Spiderleg will be sending the apprentices out soon, so I think it's a good idea. As to the question of you mentoring him, I say go for it," Firestar purred, resting his tail tip on Brightheart's shoulder.

He whispered something to Brightheart that Hawkkit couldn't quite make out, but he was sure that it would be okay. Brightheart emerged from the curtain of lichen and didn't see Hawkkit.

She bumped into him, and he let out a wail and fell off of the ledge and hit the ground with a thud. "That really hurt you know!" he squealed.

"That's what you get for eavesdropping," Brightheart laughed and gave him an affectionate nudge. "Firestar said yes, so we'll be leaving shortly…or right now."

The three mentors and apprentices were leaving the camp, so it was their cue to leave too. "How does the assessment work?" Hawkkit inquired.

"The three apprentices will go out and start hunting. The mentors will watch their progress and decide if they did well enough. If so, then they will be made warriors, if not, they'll train a bit longer and then try again," Brightheart explained.

"Alright!" Hawkkit mewed happily, and trotted out of camp with Brightheart. They found Hazelpaw first, and watched as she walked over towards the WindClan border.

She suddenly stopped and perked her ears. She dropped into a hunter's crouch, and snuck forward towards an oblivious squirrel. Once in striking distance, she lashed out and caught it in her claws, killing it with ease.

The she-cat gave her chest fur a few licks, and Hawkkit's fur bristled with embarrassment. The she-cat was so pretty, but he had to be thinking about his training, not about Hazelpaw.

They continued following her, and she killed a vole, a rabbit, two shrews, and even a starling. "Congratulations," Dustpelt purred. "You've caught enough. I'll tell Firestar right away, you shall be made a warrior."

Hazelpaw's eyes sparkled with pride; she would be a warrior at last! "Great job," Hawkkit purred, stepping out from the shadows.

"I thought I smelled kit fur," Hazelpaw laughed. "Now I know why."

"Hey! I don't smell bad. Firestar just has to make me an apprentice! Once he does, then I'll get rid of my kit smell," he protested, fluffing up his fur. Brightheart signaled to him that she was walking back to camp, and that he should return soon.

"Hmm, I wonder what I want my name to be?" Hazelpaw questioned herself. "If I find a name that I like, could you tell Firestar…please?"

"Alright," Dustpelt sighed, and walked back to camp with Brightheart. Hawkkit started to think about names for Hazelpaw. _Hazeltail…nah, that's too plain. Maybe Hazelfrost or Hazeldawn…but I'm still not sure._

"What names do you like, Hawkkit?" Hazelpaw asked.

"I like Hazeldawn and Hazelfrost, but it's really your decision," Hawkkit admitted, he personally liked Hazeldawn the best.

"Those are nice too. I was thinking Hazelheart or Hazelfire, but I also like Hazeldawn…and Firestar wouldn't give the name of Hazelheart to a cat that he didn't really like, so I guess I'm narrowing it down to Hazelfire or Hazeldawn," Hazelpaw figured.

"Yeah! We should head back to camp. Heh, I wonder what warrior name Berrypaw and Mousepaw will get," Hawkkit meowed, walking back up the hill with Hazelpaw.

The two walked through the tunnel, and saw the camp in a panic. "Berrypaw, Mousepaw, what happened?" Hazelpaw hissed in question.

"You didn't hear yet? Sandstorm went into Firestar's cave to ask him something, and he was dead! Claw marks all over his body, all of his lives, gone!" Mousepaw growled.

"Firestar…dead?" Hawkkit repeated. He had been close to his grandfather, and this upset him. Brambleclaw, new leader of ThunderClan, jumped up onto the Highledge, "Calm down!"

The cats all looked up at him, and gathered beneath the ledge.

"I know we have just lost our leader, and I promise we will find the killer, but please, we have other matters that we need to address first. I need to select a deputy, and I also need to give three apprentices their warrior names and also make Hawkkit and his siblings apprentices," Brambleclaw meowed.

Hawkkit saw Hazelpaw run over to Dustpelt to tell him the names that they had chosen. She bounded back with a happy look on her face, "I'm so excited!" she whispered.

"I know," Hawkkit mewed back, and opened his mouth to say something, but Brambleclaw began speaking again.

"I say these words before the body of Firestar so he can hear and approve of my choice. Brightheart shall be the next deputy of ThunderClan. I know she has not had an apprentice yet, but she will after the next ceremony. She's the bravest cat I know, and I know that she deserves this more than any other cat in this clan," Brambleclaw announced.

"BRIGHTHEART!" The clan cheered, Hawkkit yowling the loudest.

As the clan congratulated the new deputy, Brambleclaw had a word with the mentors. He faced the clan again, and began to speak, "Today, we have three apprentices that have trained long and hard and it is time that they have become warriors. Mousepaw, Hazelpaw, Berrypaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code, to protect and defend your clan, even at the cost of your lives?" he asked.

"I do," Hazelpaw purred.

"I do," Mousepaw and Berrypaw meowed in unison.

"Mousepaw, from this day forth you shall be known as Mouseclaw. StarClan honors your bravery and loyalty. Hazelpaw, from this day forth, you shall be known as Hazeldawn. StarClan honors your wisdom and determination. Berrypaw, from this day forth you shall be known as Berryleaf. StarClan honors your courage and strength," Brambleclaw purred.

"MOUSECLAW, HAZELDAWN, BERRYLEAF!" The clan yowled in congratulations.

"Finally, I need to make four kits in apprentices. Hawkkit, Tawnykit, Tigerkit, and Emberkit have reached their sixth moon, and they need to become apprentices. Hawkkit, you shall be known as Hawkpaw. Brightheart, as my new deputy, I'd like you to mentor him. Use all of the skills that Whitestorm taught you for Hawkpaw."

Hawkkit bounded over to his new mentor, and gently touched her nose.

"Tawnykit, you shall be known as Tawnypaw. Rainwhisker, Cloudtail was your mentor so I'd like you to pass all that you learned onto Tawnypaw. Tigerkit, you shall be known as Tigerpaw. Sorreltail, Sandstorm was your mentor, so please take good care of Tigerpaw. Finally, Emberkit, you shall be known as Emberpaw. Whitewing, your mentor was Brackenfur, so take that knowledge and make sure Emberpaw turns out to be a great warrior," Brambleclaw praised.

The new apprentices greeted their new mentors, and Brambleclaw had one last thing to say.

"_If you cats think that these ceremonies are putting off Firestar's death, you are wrong. I will make sure that his death is avenged, and that the very cat that has done it will pay."_

**Alright everyone, how did you like it? Please review. How about four reviews for this chapter? Well, just getting for more reviews in general. I'll accept people going back to review the prologue/allegiances too. XP. Well, I noticed that Akane got a review from a person named Honey-song, no account, and she/he got mad at me for calling Hazelpaw, Mousepaw, and Berrypaw different names. I'm just being clear here, that because Firestar is dead, the names are different because it's a different leader. So that's explaining that. Sorry for the long end note, again, please review. Four and I'll update.**


	4. Chapter Two: Drifting Leaves

**I'm really sorry if I sounded pushy in the last chapter. I was sleep deprived, and kinda upset. But I'm better now! Thank-you to Silverstarfan, Hawkfire111, Cinderpaw11, Kawakage, 1mimi10m, Leafpool407, and Darkness of the Eclipse for reviewing!**

**Hawkfire111-That's interesting, I didn't know any of that! Did you know that Birchfall and Whitewing are related too? Well, I can't wait to hear how they're related.**

**Cinderpaw11-That's for me to know, and for you to find out. In the next chapters, there are points of view from the killer, so it's pretty confusing even to me. Akane told me who it was, anyways.**

**Allygirl56-Akane had the first three chapters up, plus the prologue and allegiances. She has ten chapters of it typed, though.**

**~Enjoy~  
**

**Chapter Two**

"_If you cats think that these ceremonies are putting off Firestar's death, you are wrong. I will make sure that his death is avenged, and that the very cat that has done it will pay."_

"Huh?" Hawkpaw asked Hazeldawn as Brambleclaw hissed the omen like phrase. It was still early in the day, so Leafpool and Molepaw would probably be taking Brambleclaw out to get his nine lives.

"I'm not sure," Hazeldawn meowed, tilting her head to one side. "So," she started, trying to shift the conversation away from Brambleclaw, "I can't believe that Daisy is expecting Ashfur's kits. At last Ashfur has gotten a mate."

"Yeah, that's true! I think that Brambleclaw is going to get his nine lives tonight, which is good. The gathering is tomorrow anyways, so he can go as Bramblestar," Hawkpaw purred.

The sun was just beginning to set. As leafbare came closer, the leaves on the trees started to change colors, and the days grew shorter. Dustpelt hissed something to Hazeldawn that made her mouth shut quickly.

Hawkpaw just realized how starved he was, so he grabbed a small rabbit from the fresh-kill pile, and ate it in silence. He moved into the apprentice's den early, for he had been up the whole night before waiting for his apprentice ceremony to take place.

Poppypaw, Cinderpaw, and Honeypaw were gossiping about love, and how they wished that they could have mates of their own.

Hawkpaw curled up in the corner, keeping one eye open to watch the she-cats in wonder. Poppypaw then whispered, "Did you hear that Daisy is expecting Thornclaw's kits? It's really great that Thornclaw a mate, now we just need to find one for Ashfur."

"Wow, I didn't hear that," Cinderpaw giggled back. "All I've ever wanted to do was become a queen, raising the future of the clan. Icekit and Foxkit will be in the nursery for ages, so after Daisy's kits are born, the clan will need more kits."

Honeypaw got a frightened look on her face. "I'm gonna go to sleep," she meowed quickly, and curled up in her nest.

Poppypaw and Cinderpaw exchanged glances with one another, and talked a bit more about cats that Ashfur should be with. The answer that they liked the most was Whitewing.

Hawkpaw finally gave in to his desire and fell asleep.

*

"Hawkpaw, thank StarClan you're awake," a cat whispered. Hawkpaw's eyes shot open immediately.

"W-who are you?" Hawkpaw stuttered to the five cats before him. One stood tall with fur as thick as a lion's mane, his amber eyes glowing. Another was an elegant tortoiseshell she-cat with two dark circles around her eyes, one slightly lighter than the other. The third was a gray she-cat with unkempt fur. Second to last was a bluish gray she-cat with a silver tinged muzzle. The last was a light gray tabby she-cat with blue eyes and a crippled leg.

"My name is Cinderpelt. I was the medicine cat before Leafpool," the light gray tabby mewed.

"Names don't matter at this time, we need to tell you something," the darker gray she-cat with unkempt fur hissed. "Lionheart, stop giving me that look!"

The golden tom, Lionheart, reacted back, "Well, Yellowfang, it is not my fault that this puny apprentice shouldn't even exist! He should be the son of Br__."

"Hush!" the tortoiseshell she-cat snapped. "Don't speak of that, this cat is not to blame."

"Umm…Cinderpelt, Lionheart, Yellowfang," Hawkpaw started, and then he remembered Leafpool telling him the names of the other two, "Spottedleaf and Bluestar. I'm not exactly sure why you called me here, but there must be a good reason. Would you mind explaining it to me?"

All five cats stopped arguing and stared at the tom. "Uh, sure," Bluestar meowed. "You and two other cats have been blessed with powers that even we cannot control. There is not much I can tell you now, but please understand that this is happening for a good reason."

"Young apprentice, these two other cats have been sent dreams like this, now all you have to do is find them. Goodbye," Lionheart murmured.

"Wait! I need to know more about this!" Hawkpaw growled, but they were already fading away. His eyes shot open, and he could hear the very first birds of the day chirping happily.

Poppypaw's nest was still warm, she had probably just left for the dawn patrol. Cinderpaw was still sleeping, but Honeypaw's nest was empty, cold, as if it had just been left there.

Hawkpaw stepped over his brother and sisters and pushed out of the lichen in front of the cave den. The rest of the clan was chattering anxiously, and Berryleaf was pacing nervously outside of the nursery.

"Hawkpaw!" Hazeldawn cried, and ran up to him. "Come here!" Hawkpaw was whisked out of camp with the she-cat.

"Alright, what is it?" Hawkpaw asked impatiently.

"In the middle of the night, Honeypaw exited from the nursery, and dashed over to Leafpool's den. I heard yowling, and then a few warriors came out of their den. It turns out that she was expecting Berryleaf's kits the whole time! Now she's been bleeding really heavily and she might not make it," Hazeldawn explained.

"What about Brambleclaw? Did he get his nine lives?" Hawkpaw questioned.

"Yes. He's contemplating whether or not he should give Honeypaw her full name early in case she dies. Brightheart was made a warrior early by Bluestar since the cats didn't know whether she'd live or not."

"Hmm, I think we should get back to camp," Hawkpaw decided, and pushed through the gorse tunnel. Bramblestar was up on the Highledge, speaking about what had happened.

"Honeypaw has successfully delivered her three kits, but she isn't doing very well. She trained long and hard, and I would like to give her the warrior name she deserves in advance. Honeypaw, if you join StarClan, they should see you as a warrior. From this day forth, you shall be known as Honeydapple. StarClan honors your bravery and determination," Bramblestar called out.

"HONEYDAPPLE!" the clan cheered reluctantly.

Brightheart walked up to Hawkpaw. "Well…why don't we go out hunting. Hazeldawn offered to go with us, so it should be a relatively easy experience."

"Sure!" Hawkpaw piped up. He shook his thickening brown tabby pelt a bit, and then let his mentor lead the way. She led him down to the lakeshore. When he was three moons old, Tawnykit decided it was a good idea to check out the territory, so there was no need for an explanation in that area.

"Alright, let me show you the hunter's crouch," Brightheart meowed, flicking her ear toward a squirrel scuffling in the bracken. She immediately dropped down, her belly fur nearly brushing the brush.

She slunk forward, placing each ginger and white paw in front of the next. Hawkpaw then felt a burning sensation. Anger coursed through his body, then regret and anxiousness.

He looked down to see where the emotions were coming from. His paws were white and ginger; he was experiencing everything that Brightheart was!

She leaped through the air and sunk her claws and teeth into the squirrel, relief flooding from her. "See?" Brightheart asked.

All Hawkpaw could do was stare, he never knew how many emotions Brightheart could be experiencing all at once. "I'll try it on that…" he paused to sniff, "that mouse over there!"

Doing just as his mentor had told him, he dropped into a crouch, his tabby striped tail held level over the ground. He slunk forward silently, and even made sure to dodge the stick on the ground.

As he approached, the wind direction shifted, and he cursed under his breath. The mouse perked up, and started to scurry for its hole. Hawkpaw was on top of it in an instant, and gave it a sharp bite to the neck.

"Great catch, your first!" Brightheart praised. "My first catch was a vole, I remember it so well. I guess you always will too."

"Yeah, and I remember the shrew that I caught on the first day of my training too!" Hazeldawn purred.

Just then, Molepaw ran down towards them, panting once he skidded to a halt.

"What is it, Molepaw?" Brightheart asked.

"Have you two seen Leafpool? I guess she left after Honeydapple's kits were born. She just woke up and I thought that I should give her something for the pain, but I can't find Leafpool anywhere," he admitted.

"Sorry, we haven't seen her," Hazeldawn apologized. "Oh yeah, did she name her kits yet?"

"That was a random question, but yes. There are two she-cats and a tom. The she-cats names are Chicorykit and Saffronkit, and the tom is Adderkit. Thank-you for your time, I need to get going," Molepaw nodded, and ran off.

"He's a bit scatterbrained," Hazeldawn commented.

"That's not nice!" Hawkpaw hissed.

"I don't care," Hazeldawn laughed, sticking her tongue out. She flicked some lake-water up at Hawkpaw, and he growled playfully.

Hawkpaw plunged into the water himself, and began batting Hazeldawn with water. He tripped over something in the water, and his head went under. A bloody mess was turning the lake water red around him.

He shot up and flipped the dead body over. _It was Leafpool!_

**Yep, Leafpool's dead. What do you guys think of the names Chicorykit, Saffronkit, and Adderkit? I really love them! How about four reviews again and I'll update? I have to admit, as I'm reading further in this story myself, I'm liking it even more. Also, this story takes place around the time of Outcast and Eclipse, so Cinderpaw and Molepaw need warrior names? Akane hasn't given them names yet, so what do you guys want it to be? Also, could you guys go check out my story, Blue Moon Eternal? ~Sayonara!  
**


	5. Chapter Three: Floating in the Wind

**Konnichiwa~! Thanks for being patient with me, I was uber busy today! I'd like to thank Leafpool407, Hawkfire111, Cricketstar, Cinderpaw11, Silverstream rox, Kawakage, and Darkness of the Eclipse for reviewing! I believe it's in the next chapter that the killer's point of view is portrayed...well anyways, enjoy~!**

**Chapter Three**

The news spread quickly in camp of their dead medicine cat. Molepaw was in a state of panic, being the official medicine cat of the clan. Hawkpaw brought his first kill back to camp, and met up with Hazeldawn.

"Wow, this killer has gone crazy," he commented, and then Bramblestar announced the gathering. "Sandstorm, Cloudtail, Thornclaw, Poppypaw, Ashfur, Rainwhisker, Spiderleg, Whitewing, Emberpaw, Hawkpaw, and Hazeldawn can come. Molepaw, will you come too?"

"Sure. Honeydapple should be alright without me for a bit," he nodded.

"Get some rest everyone, we'll be leaving at sunset," Brambleclaw ordered, and jumped down from the Highledge to stop by the fresh-kill pile.

Hawkpaw did the same, and picked up a squirrel, robin, and rabbit. He'd give the squirrel and rabbit to the queens to eat.

"Hawkpaw," Ferncloud purred. "Is that prey for us?"

"Yep," he nodded, and dropped the prey at their paws. "How are you doing, Foxkit, Icekit?"

"Good!" Icekit squeaked. "You said you'd teach us something, so will you show us the hunter's crouch?"

"Hey! You two will be made apprentices in two moons!" Hawkpaw hissed, but he couldn't resist teaching the kits. He dropped into a hunter's crouch just as he had done the day before.

Slinking forward, he was stalking Foxkit. The reddish brown tom was lolling around, and Icekit was barely able to suppress a giggle.

Once in striking distance, Hawkpaw pounced, and landed on Foxkit. Foxkit let out a wail in surprise, and fought back. One tabby striped paw did it, and Foxkit was pinned. "Gotcha!" Hawkpaw laughed.

"No fair!" Foxkit sobbed.

"Oh…Foxkit, no, I didn't mean it that way. Icekit wanted me to demonstrate the hunter's crouch, and I wasn't going to do it on Chicorykit, Saffronkit, or Adderkit," Hawkpaw apologized.

"That's okay," Foxkit realized, and trotted back over to his mother to tell her the news of his 'fight' with an apprentice.

"I'm going to the gathering tonight, so I've got to go. I'll tell you about it in the morning though. Don't stay up all night waiting for me," Hawkpaw warned.

"I won't, promise!" Icekit purred, and snuggled up against Hawkpaw before he left. He ate his robin with Hazeldawn. "

"Icekit is so cute," he remarked. "She's just an energetic ball of fun fluff."

"I know what you mean. Someday a tom will just come around and swipe her right off of her feet. Hey, we're friends, right? Can I tell you something…in private?" Hazeldawn asked.

"Sure, do you want to go behind the warriors den? There's some space back there," he suggested.

"Why not?" Hazeldawn nodded, and followed him behind there.

"So what did you want to tell me?" Hawkpaw asked; pulling a bramble out of his pelt that he had snagged on there when squeezing back to get there.

"I tried to tell Cinderpaw, but she was too fixated on Honeydapple, and Poppypaw would have spread it to the rest of the clan, so you're my other option, I trust you. Hawkpaw…I sort of have a crush on a tom," Hazeldawn mewed in barely a whisper.

"On who?" Hawkpaw inquired.

"On Birchfall! He's so cute, and I really think that we could be something together. I'm not good at saying things like that…so maybe you could ask him for me?" Hazeldawn admitted.

"U-um, sure," Hawkpaw reasoned, feeling like a small piece of himself had just died. He had been working up the courage to tell Hazeldawn how he felt, and now it was ruined in one fatal blow.

"Thank-you so much!" Hazeldawn squealed, and dashed out from behind the warrior's den. Hawkpaw knew he had to do this for her, so he pushed out of the small cave, and found Birchfall eating a vole by himself.

"Oh, hi Hawkpaw," Birchfall greeted.

"Hey, I need to ask you something," Hawkpaw meowed, screaming 'NO' inside.

"Sure, what is it?" Birchfall asked, his expression deepening.

"Do you like any she-cats right now? I mean I know it's weird, me asking you and all, but I can't exactly ask Molepaw, or my siblings, or my dad…" Hawkpaw started, finding it hard to directly place each word.

"Hmm, does this mean that you like a she-cat?" Birchfall guessed.

Hawkpaw sighed. "I like Hazeldawn, but she came up to me today and said that she liked you, and asked if I'd ask you if you liked her," he explained. "So now I'm asking you: Do you like Hazeldawn?"

"Hazeldawn…" Birchfall repeated, "Not really…I mean she's a really cute she-cat, I'll give her that, but I don't have any feelings like that towards her at all. If I would like a she-cat right now, it would probably be Poppypaw. I'm not sure what it is about her spunk that I like…but you're not going to tell her that…are you?"

"No, I won't tell her," Hawkpaw nodded. "Thanks Birchfall." Hawkpaw let out a purr of satisfaction. As long as Birchfall didn't change his mind about his feelings for Hazeldawn, he would be in the clear.

_Plus…even if Hazeldawn and I don't work out, there're still other she-cats in the clan. Cinderpaw's cute, and so is Icekit…I mean not that I like them now,_ Hawkpaw thought to himself, his pelt rippling with embarrassment, his ears hot.

Hazeldawn was sunning herself in what sunlight there was left to get. "Hazeldawn," he called over to her to get her attention.

"Oh, Hawkpaw! What did he say?" Hazeldawn asked, her ears perking up, and she sat up right away.

"I don't know how to tell you this, but he said that you're cute and all, but he doesn't have any feelings towards you that way, and that he already has a cat that he likes," Hawkpaw put it bluntly.

"Did he say who he likes?" Hazeldawn asked, her blue eyes growing wide with fear.

"He did, but are you sure you want to know who it is?" Hawkpaw warned.

"I'm sure," Hazeldawn nodded, swallowing.

"He said that he likes Poppypaw. That she's cute, and that he loves her spunk, and wouldn't trade it for anything else," Hawkpaw partially lied.

"Thank-you for doing that for me anyways," Hazeldawn nodded.

"Time to leave!" Bramblestar called, and led the patrol out of camp; cutting off what else Hazeldawn was going to say.

Hawkpaw couldn't wait to cross the tree-bridge and to feel the pine needles under his paws, to be part of the action in the gathering.

Brightheart fell into stride with him. "Are you excited?"

"What, do we not need to eat prey? Of course I'm excited!" Hawkpaw laughed. The mentor and apprentice began to talk some more until Squirrelflight let out a shriek.

"What is it?" Bramblestar asked, rushing forward to his mate.

"D-d-dustpelt," she whispered in horror, flicking her tail to the brutally gouged body of Dustpelt.

"It struck again," Bramblestar hissed; pure malevolence resided in his amber eyes. Shaking it off, he stalked forward, vowing not to let his temper get the best of him. Ahead he saw WindClan skittering faster than usual down the moors.

"Ashfoot, where's Onestar?" Brambleclaw called up to the gray she-cat.

"H-he was murdered in his own den," Ashfoot sighed. "Actually, I saw you at the MoonPool receiving your nine lives. I'm Ashstar now."

"That's so weird, because before Leafpool, Molepaw, and I got there, we saw Littlecloud, Flamespirit, and Russetfur leaving. I guess she must be Russetstar now too," Bramblestar meowed.

"Let's get going," Ashstar whisked away, and crossed over the tree-bridge, Bramblestar and his clan following closely behind. As his turn approached, Brightheart was right behind him.

He heard that the bridge was slippery, so he wanted to make sure he got the jump right. Bunching his muscles, he made it up onto the bridge, and was surprised at how quickly his paw hold was slipping from him.

In one final attempt, he unsheathed his claws, and they sunk into the rubbery bark. The tree looked like it was decaying, and that the clans would need to find a new way across to the island.

Eventually, Hawkpaw got the hang of the walk across, and he was nearly across when he heard Emberpaw let out a shriek. He jumped onto the bank, and looked across. There, the tree bridge had split in half, exactly the point where he had had the thought of the decaying bridge.

"Oh no," he whispered as he realized that it would be a big journey to make it back to the mainland, and to survive at that.

**Are you thinking what I'm thinking? That all the leader's died? Well, if you are, I can't tell you if that's right or wrong. You'll have to wait and see. Hmm...can I get away with five reviews before updating? Probably can, but if I get four, I'll still update! ~Sayonara~! (names for Cinderpaw and Molepaw are still being accepted)**


	6. Chapter Four: Painless and Tired

**Do you see that little star there? Yeah, well below that star is where the killer is. It's revealed that it's a she, but there's not much more information on her. Her name isn't mentioned, but it gives a few experiences of her killings, and when she kills the next cat. Arigato gozaimasu to Kawakage, Leafpool407, Foxleap, Cinderpaw11, Loststream, Ultraviolet1321, and Darkness of the Eclipse for reviewing.**

**Foxleap-Bambi eyes are no longer necessary. Did you know that I just found out about what those are a month or so ago? (I'm native to Japan)**

**Ultraviolet1321-Akane was my sister, not a friend. So I lost my sister.**

**Leafpool407-Yeah, well I'll give the killer a memo to come for you next! (just kidding XD)**

**Cinderpaw11-Mistyfoot is Mistystar now.**

**Darkness of the Eclipse-I'm glad you calmed down!**

**Loststream-Thankies!**

**Kawakage-Yeah, but I can't tell you who the killer is. Maybe later...but not now.  
**

**Chapter Four**

Split second thinking, Hawkpaw plunged into the water after his sister, taking in a gulp of fresh air before heading down under. The water filled his eyes, nose, and mouth, and stung.

Emberpaw's limp form was rested at the bottom of the lake, and Hawkpaw drifted back at this. Getting his wits about him, and grabbed his sister by the scruff, and kicked his legs, making them move.

His head broke the surface, and he fought the urge to cough. If he coughed, his sister would surely be lost. He blinked the water away, and a wave of relief came over him as his feet hit solid ground.

Making sure his sister was lied down properly, he began hacking away, coughing and spluttering, surely he looked like a mousebrain, but that didn't matter. "Emberpaw?" he rasped, and shook her.

A few bubbles escaped her mouth; followed by a rush of water as she, too, fell into a fit of coughing. Hawkpaw collapsed onto the ground beside her, his chest heaving with the effort.

*

A dulled she-cat looked from side to side, a sick and twisted smile coming upon her face. The first time she had killed, it had only just been for the sake of her life. Firestar, shrewd and terrible Firestar, oh how unfortunately mistaken he had been.

Yes, the tom had found her battling a bit too hard during training, and she had drawn blood from her mentor. Firestar was very nervous about fighting in his elderly age, and hated when fighting was too rough.

Inside his den, Firestar had told her that he was going to postpone her assessment for another two moons. This enraged the she-cat, and she had ripped her claws through Firestar's pelt.

Luckily, she had tripped into a patch of toadstools earlier, so her scent was disguised. When the tom stopped breathing, the cat snorted, thankful that he had been on his last life.

The next cat that had to die was Leafpool. She had seen Firestar's murder, well, heard it. His killer had been sneaky enough to escape the den in time, so Leafpool hadn't been able to detect who the cat was.

But of course, there was still the chance that Leafpool could tell the clan what she had seen, and they'd be able to guess the killer. You see, she couldn't let this happen, so early in the morning, she invited Leafpool to go for a walk, saying she discovered something about herbs.

Leafpool couldn't refuse, and met her at the shore. Leafpool had looked around, trying to find where she was, and soon, she was on top of the clan's dearest medicine cat. With a bite to the neck, Leafpool crippled, and was dead.

This hadn't been enough for her, though, and she sliced off each and every one of the cat's limbs, and dumped the body parts in different places of the lake. She dreamed of the time when the clan would find her remains, if ever.

Dustpelt had come after that. Now, why would Dustpelt have been killed, what did he do that irritated her enough to kill him? Well, the simple answer was as follows: nothing.

She had gotten that certain urge, that itch to kill again. It surged through her veins as she unsheathed her claws. The nearest cat was Dustpelt. Although the tom had always been sweet to her, she wasn't going to let that get to her.

If she was going to be the next villain, the next Tigerclaw, she needed to show no mercy. Now, this venomous cat hadn't poisoned her with his apparition, he probably didn't know she existed. He had left her alone, and he let her fantasize about the next victim.

But the day that she died, she knew that she would meet the killer in The Place of no Stars.

When she landed on top of Dustpelt, he let out a short wail as claws sank into his shoulder, and he was soon rolled over onto hard rock, snapping his spine. An artist, that was how she liked to refer to herself.

She scratched at his belly, and waited until he was dead to begin her artwork. She slashed over his eyes, and slit his nose. She plucked a few teeth from his jaws, and jabbed them into his body.

Letting of a snicker, she continued, and finally dumped him to a place where he would be found, right by camp. That had been her past, now it was time for the future. She was safely across at the gathering, and she looked for the cat that would be her next victim.

The tortoiseshell apprentice was laughing with a few others. Nonchalantly, she walked over to Poppypaw, and mewed, "Can I talk to you for a little bit?"

"Sure," Poppypaw nodded, and followed the she-cat out of camp. They were Clanmates, why would Poppypaw have any suspicions towards her? The black and gray apprentice she had been talking to simply sat down.

"What do you need?" Poppypaw asked, and then jumped back when she saw the pure malice and hatred in the she-cat's eyes. "W-what's wrong?"

_ "Nothing, everything's perfect, I just need to take care of one small detail…you," _she hissed, and lunged at the gorgeous tortoiseshell apprentice. Blood welled from Poppypaw's neck, and Poppypaw began choking.

The apprentice's eyes rolled into the back of her head, and the warrior dropped her to the ground. Poppypaw's eyes were watering as she looked up at her killer.

"Why?" she choked, blood pouring from her wound. "I'll expose you," she coughed, and the last word was mostly inedible, except for, "wn."

She smirked, and turned back to the apprentice that had seen her call Poppypaw. She had to go, too, because she could give away the secret easily too. "Help!" she yowled to the apprentice, thanking StarClan that she was still alone. "Poppypaw's been bitten by a snake!"

The apprentice dashed to the rescue, when he approached, she tripped him, and pushed his head into the water. In a few short minutes, he stopped struggling, he had drowned.

His killer got to work, carving images and tearing up the bodies. She smirked, and washed her self off in the lake, washing off all signs of her scent being in the trees. Now it was time to see what had been happening in the gathering.

*

Hawkpaw and Emberpaw padded out of the gorse and into the clearing. They had offered to help ShadowClan get across the lake, and they eagerly accepted. Now they could enjoy themselves.

This being Hawkpaw's first gathering, he was overly excited. He padded over to an apprentice he recognized to be Copperpaw; next to him was Minnowpaw. "Hi," he mewed.

_Don't give away any information about the clan._ Brightheart's words echoed in his mind.

"Hello, you must be new, I've never seen you here before," Minnowpaw meowed. "If no other way to cross the lake comes up, then RiverClan might be the only clan able to get to the gathering!"

"Tell me about it," Hawkpaw agreed. There was no way he would swim to get to the island. In his adrenaline rushed moment, yes, he had dove into the water to save his sister, but the only water he wanted to get involved with now was water in streams to drink.

Copperpaw then meowed, "Want me to introduce you to a couple other apprentices? They've been here for as long as Minnowpaw, and you should probably get to know them before they get to be warriors."

"Sure," Hawkpaw agreed. He turned back, and twitched his whiskers. He was going to ask Emberpaw if she wanted to come too, but the apprentice had gone off somewhere else.

He shook his head, and bounded after the two older apprentices. They led him to a group of three senior apprentices, and two younger. All of them had different scents on them.

Emberpaw recognized the brown tabby she-cat and tortoiseshell she-cat to have the scent of WindClan, and the light brown tom and gray tabby she-cat to carry ShadowClan scent.

The last, a dark brown tabby tom, held the same fishy RiverClan smell as the Minnowpaw and Copperpaw.

"Who have you brought us today?" the tortoiseshell she-cat asked. "I love meeting new apprentices, what's your name?"

"My name's Hawkpaw, I started my trained around a quarter moon ago," he mewed happily. He was going to make allies in the other clans. For his whole life, Hawkpaw always wanted to hold the position of leader, he never knew why.

If he made allies with the apprentices in the clans, well, the apprentices _would_ be the future of each clan, so he would fair well if he ever got the position of deputy, or leader.

"Nice to meet you, Hawkpaw, I'm Sunpaw. I'm a newer apprentice, I was apprenticed around two moons ago," the tortoiseshell she-cat, Sunpaw, responded. "Also, this is Heatherpaw, she's been training a lot longer than I have."

Hawkpaw dipped his head to the light brown tabby, and Heatherpaw did the same.

"I'm Shrewpaw," the light gray ShadowClan apprenticed answered, and yawned. "This is my senior apprentice, Owlpaw."

"Lastly, this is Nettlepaw, he's Copperpaw's brother," Minnowpaw finished. She opened her jaws to say something else, but a yowl from the tree interrupted her, the gathering was about to begin.

**A kind of boring chapter, I know. But the gathering is next, so you can understand how all of the leader's die, plus there's a very gruesome murder committed by none other than The Artist (yesh, that's the official name for the killer) ~Sayonara~!**


	7. Chapter Five: Patched Gorse

**Well, kudos to everyone that reviewed. You had many guesses as to who the killer was, many said Hazeldawn or Tawnypaw because of the 'wn' at the end. I'll tip you off on a little hint, those letters might be grouped together, but they can also be apart. Plus, the name of the cat could not have the letter 'w' in it, but the letter 'n' in it. Remember, she was dying, her words could be a bit gibberish. Well, arigato gozaimasu to Kawakage, lugirox, Cinderpaw11, Hawkfire111, silverstarfan, Darkness of the Eclipse, Cloudstep, and Loststream for reviewing. Enjoy~!**

**Chapter Five  
**

Hawkpaw looked up at the leaders. He tilted his head to one side, and was very confused. The leaders of the clans he had heard of were Onestar of WindClan, Leopardstar of RiverClan, and Blackstar of ShadowClan.

None of the cats matched the descriptions he had been given. They actually matched the descriptions of the deputies. He sighed, and thought that he could've been given false information.

"I'm sad to announce that Leopardstar passed away. She caught a rare sickness, and it wiped her out," a bluish gray she-cat, the new leader of RiverClan sighed. "My new deputy is Reedwhisker."

"Congratulations, Mistystar," the gray tabby leader of WindClan mewed. Hawkpaw recalled from the conversation Bramblestar had shared with her earlier, that her name was Ashstar. "As you can see, Onestar is no longer with us. He was brutally killed by a dog."

"We also feel your loss," Bramblestar mewed. "Firestar was murdered," he admitted reluctantly. "He was found in his den, his body gouged. Leafpool and Dustpelt were also killed. I think a rogue has been doing it, so keep your eyes open."

"I'm so sorry," the ginger ShadowClan leader mewed. "Blackstar left. He was on his last life, and he said that he couldn't take clan life any longer. When I consulted StarClan about getting my nine lives, Blackstar gave me one of them, so he passed out in the woods somewhere."

Hawkpaw leaned over to Copperpaw, and whispered, "Who is that?"

"Russetstar. She used to be Russetfur, but she's leader now," he murmured back.

Ashstar started announcing the new news first. "My new deputy is Owlwhisker. We have a queen that just moved into the nursery."

The clans murmured their congratulations to Owlwhisker as each of the other leaders stepped up to speak. RiverClan cats swam back to their camp, while WindClan and ShadowClan warriors waded through the shallow waters back to their territory.

Bramblestar looked from cat to cat in the clan, seeing if every cat was present. He held a confused look on his face. "Didn't Poppypaw come with us to the gathering."

Hazeldawn spoke up, "Yeah, she was with me when we first arrived. Want me to go look for her?"

"Sure, take Thornclaw with you," Brambleclaw nodded. The two disappeared into the brush, and shortly afterwards; Hawkpaw heard a startled shriek come from Hazeldawn.

Not thinking, he dashed in the direction of the squeal, and pushed through the gorse. In front of his paws were the heavily beaten up and slashed bodies of Poppypaw and a RiverClan apprentice.

Hazeldawn looked dizzy, she had mentioned to him before that she easily passed out at the sight of blood. "I'm gonna go back to Bramblestar," Hazeldawn rasped, and rocked back and forth as she walked back towards the leader.

Hawkpaw grabbed Poppypaw by the scruff, and picked her up. She was heavy, he had to admit that, but she was his Clanmate, so he'd carry her all the way back to camp if necessary.

Bramblestar looked at the limp body of Poppypaw, and sighed. "The rogue struck again. If it is a rogue, come on; let's get back to camp. There's a shallow strip through the lake, we shouldn't have to swim for more than a moment at any point."

The patrol, starry eyed, followed Bramblestar, shocked that they had lost another cat. Hawkpaw glanced over at Hazeldawn, and she was incredibly grief stricken. She and Poppypaw and been denmates for ages.

"I'm sorry," Hawkpaw meowed to her. "I know that she was your friend."

"That's alright," Hazeldawn cried. The two had been the closest of close, and Hawkpaw couldn't even imagine the pain she must have been feeling. Worst of all, the family at home didn't know.

Sorreltail, Brackenfur, Cinderpaw, Molepaw, and Honeydapple would be aching, surely enough. Her mentor, Thornclaw, would be upset that she never completed her training, and Rainwhisker and Brightheart would also be sad about losing a niece.

Hawkpaw let Bramblestar carry Poppypaw, and Brightheart carried the RiverClan apprentice. His name was Sparrowpaw; Bramblestar confirmed it.

Hawkpaw winced as the cold water dampened his fur, and let off a slight shiver. He shook it off, and was soon paddling through the current. Most of the warriors didn't swim at all, and Hawkpaw was jealous of that.

He was still small, and his legs didn't reach as far down as they should have. As dry land approached, Hawkpaw let off a joyous purr, and climbed up onto the shore. He fluffed up his pelt, and gave it a quick lick over.

Bramblestar was already very far ahead, and Hawkpaw was pelting to catch up. Hawkpaw as thankful for his small size in one way, he could easily fit through the gorse tunnel without the thorns snagging his pelt.

Inside, most of the clan was asleep, except Chicorykit, Saffronkit, and Adderkit were bouncing around outside the den. Hawkpaw padded over to them, and peered inside the nursery.

Honeydapple was asleep, and Hawkpaw gave her a nudge. She sleepily blinked her eyes open, and looked up at him. "Hawkpaw, what do you need?" she yawned.

"Two things. One of them is bad news, the other is about naughty kits," he whispered, not wanting to wake up Ferncloud or Daisy.

"Naughty kits…" Honeydapple repeated, and gasped as she noticed her kits weren't at her belly any longer. One after another, the three kits trickled into the nursery, and Hawkpaw held in a laugh as Honeydapple scolded them.

She then turned her focus back to Hawkpaw. "What's the bad news?" she asked.

"At the island, Poppypaw disappeared, and when we went looking for her…we found her slaughtered like the others," Hawkpaw explained sadly. He hated to break the news to the queen, but he wanted it to be phrased gently, not as harsh as Bramblestar would put it.

Honeydapple's eyes clouded over, and she sank down in her nest. "Thanks for telling me, Hawkpaw," she sighed. "I guess it's better that I know now, rather than later. Is her body in the clearing?"

Hawkpaw opened his mouth to mew something to her, but Bramblestar's call interrupted him. "May all cats old enough to catch their own prey join beneath the Highledge for a clan meeting?" he yowled.

Hawkpaw padded to the edge of the nursery, and Honeydapple hissed to her kits to stay put while she listened to what Bramblestar had to say. The clan's eyes were dulled, most of them, if not all, had seen Poppypaw's body.

"The killer struck again. He, or she, took Poppypaw's life from us," Bramblestar started, choking on his own words. "I urge every cat to keep their guard up to the best of their abilities, and I order that there must be at least three cats on every trip out of camp. Apprentices can't leave without two other warriors, and kits will stay in the nursery, or very close to it," he growled.

A shiver ran through Hawkpaw's spine as anxious murmurs rippled through the crowd. Hazeldawn stood up from her misery, and called out, "The killer seems to ambush. We haven't once heard a cry for help, which would mean a quick death. Also, the patrol idea is a good one, but what if there are more than one?"

Bramblestar stopped, and really thought about what Hazeldawn had said. "You make a good point, but I won't let us be prisoners in our own camp. We'll just have to take the risk."

Some cats approved, some didn't, but the meeting was dismissed. Bramblestar walked into his den to contemplate the issues, and Cinderpaw, Molepaw, Sorreltail, Brackenfur, Thornclaw, Honeydapple, and her three kits came to share tongues one last time with their dead Clanmate.

Hawkpaw saw Brightheart sitting with her head down, and he padded over to her. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm trying to decide if I want to go over there to share tongues with Poppypaw," she admitted. "I was never a very big part of her life, but she is my niece…I'm just not sure."

"Go share tongues with her," Hawkpaw mewed. "She is family, I think it would be right."

Brightheart nodded, and padded over to her niece to say a final goodbye.

Hawkpaw padded over to the cave that made up the apprentice's den, and saw Hazeldawn standing at the entrance. "I don't want to sleep in the warrior's den tonight. Could I sleep in the apprentice's den with you?"

"Sure," Hawkpaw nodded. It felt strange to be pressed so closely against Hazeldawn, but she was hurting inside, so he allowed it, just for one night.

*

Sneaking out of the camp in the light of the full moon, she let off a slight purr. Poppypaw had been killed successfully, and now two other family members would fall. Their names were similar to those of gorse.

Sorreltail, Brackenfur, and Thornclaw. Sorrel was a very leafy plant, bracken was a very long plant with thin leaves, and thorns were just annoying, thistle like objects that hurt if they got stuck in a pad.

Sorreltail had gone out to make dirt, and now she would meet her there. She ducked into the dirt tunnel, and found Sorreltail finishing up her business. "I'm sorry for your loss," she mewed honestly.

The she-cat nodded, and sobbed a bit more. "Can I go on a walk with you?" Sorreltail asked. To her soon-to-be killer's surprise, Sorreltail had lined everything up for her.

This death would be easy to line up, very, very easy. She wouldn't kill Thornclaw, just the upset mates. She set the path that they were walking on, and soon, Sorreltail tripped, and landed on solid rock.

Her jaw cracked, and she wailed in pain. Now it was her turn the attack. She was openly referring to herself as 'The Artist.' She flipped the unconscious she-cat over, and slashed her throat.

Hot and sticky blood oozed and bubbled out of her throat, and Sorreltail coughed some up. She let off a hearty laugh, and as she had planned, Brackenfur had gone looking for her.

She jumped to the side, her fur disguised in the smell of damp ferns, and watched as Brackenfur rushed over to her. He too, tripped over the hidden root, but didn't crack his jaw.

His hind leg was twisted in an awkward angle, and she lunged out of the gorse, slashing at his throat also.

This wouldn't be a work of art, no; this would look like the two mates killed each other to be reunited with their daughter in StarClan. The last light faded from Brackenfur's eyes, and she got to work.

Ever so gently she pulled some fur off of Brackenfur's pelt, and stuffed it under Sorreltail's front claws. She did the same with Sorreltail's fur, except it went under Brackenfur's front claws.

Pulling them close together, she stuffed Brackenfur's claws into the throat wound that had killed Sorreltail, and attached his other claws into Sorreltail's side.

She slid Sorreltail's right claws into Brackenfur's throat gash, and pushed her left claws into the top of his head. Now the two would be found, their lips pulled back in a snarl, seeming as though they killed each other.

**A bit gory, eh? Yeah, well, that's all part of the fun! I'll update when I get 5 reviews. Also, can you please, please, please, please check out my story, Blue Moon Eternal???? Hardly anyone has reviewed it. (Thank you so much Kawakage and Darkness of the Eclipse, my constant reviewers X3) *Will be egotistic in 3...2...1...* It's a well written story too, so please just check it out *end of egotistic moments* Well, review both stories, ~Sayonara~!**


	8. Chapter Six: In the Sky

**Gomenasai, gomenasai, I'm sorry, I'm sorry for not getting this up faster! I've been so busy with projects so I've hardly been able to post anything! Well, anyways, arigato to Leafpool407, Lugirox, Kawkage, Darkness of the Eclipse, Loststream, Cinderpaw11, Warriorz, and Hawkfire111. We'll all miss you, Hawkfire111! Enjoy~!**

**Chapter Six**

Hawkpaw blinked his eyes awake, and looked down at Hazeldawn sleeping soundly. It was so strange that she was only just slightly bigger than him. She had always been small.

At one point during the night, Hawkpaw left the den to make dirt, and had to leave ever so carefully, so he wouldn't wake the she-cat. "Morning," he whispered, and gave her a nudge.

She opened her periwinkle blue eyes, and looked up at him. "Thanks for letting me sleep her for the night," she whispered, and stood up, shaking her pelt of moss scraps. Most of them landed on Hawkpaw, and he let out a playful growl.

Tackling her, the two tumbled out of the den; Hawkpaw ending up pinned on the ground. Hazeldawn had superior muscle strength and training, so it was indubitable that she would win every battle until he was a warrior.

The two sat up, and gave their pelts a licking over. The camp was eerily quiet, and Hawkpaw saw the tortoiseshell and white coat, with glazed amber eyes that made up Poppypaw's dead frame.

"Wait…amber?" he hissed. "Poppypaw had blue eyes!"

Hazeldawn looked at Hawkpaw, confused. "Poppypaw has blue eyes, what's your point?"

"The cat lying there has amber eyes! That's Sorreltail," Hawkpaw growled. Because of the gathering, they had slept in until sunhigh. Cinderpaw walked up to them, and meowed.

"I guess you didn't here," she sighed. "The dawn patrol found the two of them dead. Their claws were connected to each other's throats, it seemed like they committed suicide."

"Suicide?" Hawkpaw echoed. "What does that mean?"

"It means to take your own life on purpose. It looks as though they wanted to kill each other," Cinderpaw explained. Her blue eyes were full of hurt, and they welled up.

"Cinderpaw…" Hazeldawn started, stepping towards her old friend.

"You know what, it's not okay!" she snapped. "Just because Poppypaw died, they committed suicide to be with her! Don't they realize that even though they lost Poppypaw, Molepaw, Honeydapple, Chicorykit, Saffronkit, Adderkit, and I are all still alive?"

Cinderpaw whirled around, and ran into the apprentice's den. Hawkpaw glanced at the apprentice, feeling sorry for her. Hawkpaw sighed, and decided to go find his mentor. With the clan in such a state of panic, it was for the best that he got out of there, as soon as possible.

"Brightheart?" he called into the warrior's den, and a scarred head rose up from the center of it. She yawned, exposing a full set of pointy white teeth. Shaking her pelt of moss scraps, she stepped around the sleeping warriors, and sat down in front of him.

"Yes?" she asked, and yawned, a second time. "If you want to know if I heard about Sorreltail and Brackenfur, I already did."

"No, it wasn't that," Hawkpaw mewed, shuffling his paws. It felt weird asking his mentor for something. Shouldn't she be the one to ask things of him? "I was wondering if we could go out and train or something."

Brightheart thought about it for a moment. "Why not?" she decided. The two were about to exit camp when Bramblestar let out a yowl from the Highledge, beckoning everyone towards him.

"As you all should know by now, Sorreltail and Brackenfur were found dead by the dawn patrol," he began, shaking his head, trying to rid his head of the thought. "Which leads me to the point of speeding up the training of our apprentices."

Brightheart stood up, and looked up at her leader. "Yes, our apprentices need to be ready to fight in case they come face to face with this killer."

Hazeldawn glanced around, and then meowed. "Why not hold a group training session? Cinderpaw is already well trained, but Hawkpaw, Tawnypaw, Emberpaw, and Tigerpaw don't have any training. A group of warriors could go to the training hollow and teach them a bit every day," she suggested.

Bramblestar let off a hearty purr. "That's a great idea. Hunting isn't the largest issue either. We still need to eat, but if the apprentices are given battle training practice every day, they'll be warriors in no time."

Feeling proud of herself, Hazeldawn wrapped her tail around her paws. "Who shall be on the first patrol?" Berryleaf asked.

"All of the mentors…" he trailed off. "Tigerpaw…Sorreltail was your mentor, wasn't she? I guess I have to assign you a new one. I know! Hazeldawn, you've been coming up with a lot of great ideas lately, so you shall take over Tigerpaw's training."

Hazeldawn dipped her head to Bramblestar. "It would be an honor to take over his training," she mewed, and touched noses with the apprentice.

"As I was saying, all the mentors will go, Brightheart, Cloudtail, Rainwhisker, Whitewing, Hazeldawn, and maybe two others, Spiderleg and Squirrelflight. Oh! Molepaw, I want you to go too. You need to have proper fighting skills too," Bramblestar added, on a whim.

Hawkpaw felt a swell of pride burst through his chest; he was going to start his battle training!

*

In the hollow, the cats were paired up with their mentors to start, so they could learn based on the ability they already had. Hawkpaw stood before Brightheart, and twitched his tail impatiently.

She had been standing there for ages, not doing anything. She breathed out a sigh, and then her eye lit up. "I know!" she purred, and beckoned him foreword.

He moved forward by a few steps, and Brightheart demonstrated the first move that she wanted him to learn.

Bunching her hind muscles, she sprang up into the air, raked her claws down the side of an invisible opponent, and then landed back on the mossy ground. Once on the ground, she ducked down and shot underneath the opponent, kicking it up with her hind legs.

Hawkpaw's eyes widened and he mewed, "Can I try?"

"On me," Brightheart nodded. Hawkpaw felt his blood run cold, facing his scarred _deputy_. He shook it off, and bunched his hind muscles, or at least what tiny amount there was.

Only making it up barely above his mentor's head, he landed awkwardly on the ground. "That's alright, you can try again."

Hawkpaw nodded sourly, and tried it again. He must have tried it at least ten more times before he actually made it over top of his mentor, only to find himself pinned once he landed on the ground.

"How's it going?" Bramblestar asked, he had arrived in the clearing a little while earlier, observing the training. Hawkpaw flattened his ears, and his pelt felt hot. He was panting from the effort, and Brightheart seemed disappointed.

"Well, Hawkpaw is putting a lot of effort into his work, and I'm impressed with that," Brightheart commented.

Bramblestar took it in, and looked at his _son._ "Why don't you take a break, Brightheart? I'll take over for a little while."

Brightheart flicked her ear to Bramblestar thankfully and took off out of the clearing to get some air.

"All right, Hawkpaw, attack me," he mewed, his amber eyes focused on his son.

Hawkpaw let off a purr of happiness. He was training with his father! The leader of the clan! Narrowing his eyes, he looked for a place to strike.

Thankfully he had listened to Brightheart's lectures well, and he knew where to strike first. His lunge was directed to Bramblestar's right, but in a split second, as Bramblestar was ducking out to the left, Hawkpaw veered to the left, and caught the leader surprised, knocking the breath out of him.

He darted under Bramblestar's belly, and brought his head up, knocking Bramblestar to the ground. Lightly he placed his paw on Bramblestar's chest. "Killed ya!" He purred.

"Good," Bramblestar purred, and cuffed his son over the ear. "You wanna watch the others with me?"

"Sure," Hawkpaw agreed. They watched Tawnypaw and Rainwhisker first. Spiderleg was coaching from the side. This had been Tawnypaw's second training session, so she was ahead.

Rainwhisker had her pinned, but she was pummeling his belly with her hind legs. Her whole body was wriggling, and she slipped out. Standing up on her hind legs, she batted Rainwhisker's face.

Her mentor got up onto his hind legs too, and pushed her head to the ground. Tawnypaw, though, wasn't one to give up, and she hooked a single claw in his scruff, and pulled him down with her.

They landed in a choking mass of fur, laughing their heads off.

"You can be done for the day," Bramblestar mewed.

Tigerpaw and Hazeldawn were fairing well, and so were Emberpaw and Whitewing. The last group of Cinderpaw and Cloudtail had finished up already, and when they were dismissed, left the clearing.

Now the only cats left were Squirrelflight, Spiderleg, Emberpaw, Tigerpaw, and Tawnypaw. The others had already left to catch something to eat and get something to drink.

*

The artist sunk her teeth into a rabbit, and stored it along side a mouse and a shrew. Her hunting had been well, and she was proud of that. Her claws were itching to kill once more, and there he sat, right before her very claws.

She let off a hearty purr, and padded over to him, panting still. She had fought against a worthy opponent, and now one deserved to die. Still lurking in the brush, she lunged forward.

Her teeth hit his throat, and his white fur flew up into the air. He vomited up blood as she released him, and he collapsed to the ground. Wheezing through his last breath before falling still.

Other cats were arriving, though, so she quickly cleaned up all traces of being there, and fetched her prey to take back with her to the camp.

**Oh, Akane didn't say who it was, that must've been a mistake! The cat killed, if you didn't already guess, was Cloudtail. Oh, Ferncloud's kits are born in the next chappie, and Daisy's come in chapter eleven, I believe. *checks outline* Yes, they do. Well, please review, ~Sayonara~!**


	9. Chapter Seven: Dull Above

**Chapter Seven**

When Hawkpaw arrived back from training, the clan was stirring. Cats were passing in and out of the nursery, mewing their congratulations. The only thing that Hawkpaw could figure had happened was one of the queens had had their kits.

_Probably Ferncloud, she was farther along than Daisy._ Hawkpaw guessed, and started wondering if Daisy would ever take on a full clan name. It just didn't seem right. When Millie had died, Hawkpaw had been sad for Graystripe, but he was also sad that she didn't go to StarClan with a warrior's name.

The day that Daisy would die would also be a sad one for Hawkpaw because it would be devastating to be received by StarClan without having a warrior name. If Daisy truly believed in StarClan, maybe she would take on a name.

He padded over to the nursery, and sat down, waiting for his turn to see the new kits. After Birchfall exited the den, Hawkpaw entered, and saw Ferncloud purring, three small kits nestled in her womb.

"They're gorgeous," a cat behind him commented. Hawkpaw turned to see Hazeldawn smiling.

"Thank-you," Ferncloud purred, and Hawkpaw could sense a pang of grief coming from the cat when she looked at the dusty brown tabby.

"What did you name them?" Hawkpaw asked. The first was a light gray tabby she-cat, the second was the dusty brown tabby tom, and the third was a light brown tom.

"The first is Dawnkit," she mewed, flicking her tail to the only she-cat. Shifting her gaze to the dusty brown, she meowed, "He's Dustkit, in honor of Dustpelt. I haven't named the last one yet."

The kits had been born shortly after the battle patrol had left. The final, unnamed kit, opened his eyes, and they were a bright pyre amber color.

"Wow, it's almost like pyre!" Hawkpaw breathed. He had only seen that color once or twice before.

"Pyrekit," Ferncloud decided. "His name will be Pyrekit."

Hawkpaw padded over to the fresh-kill pile to get something to eat. He grabbed a rabbit that smelled strangely of blood, but he shrugged it off. Hazeldawn joined him, and they ate together as Bramblestar announced the birth of the new kits.

The sun was sinking, and Bramblestar decided that instead of having an every day hunting plan, it would be a three-day cycle, which would alternate for each apprentice. In Hawkpaw's case, Day One was hunting, Day Two was Patrolling, and Day Three was battling.

He curled up in the apprentice's den, and felt Tawnypaw's fur pressed up against him. All four of them had always slept close to each other, and it hadn't changed through apprenticeship.

~*~

The artist snuck out of camp. No one had found Cloudtail's dead body yet, and it irritated her. Now, she would drag his body out through the lake to RiverClan territory. Grabbing him by the scruff, she hauled him into the lake.

His body stayed afloat, which worked to her advantage. The lake covered a large area, but if she cut through the middle, where she could still wade, her time would be a quarter of what it would normally be.

The WindClan scent markers passed, and so did RiverClan's. She pulled her waterlogged frame up onto the shore, and wedged it in the river. A twig snapped nearby, and she dove back into the lake, hurrying back to camp.

~*~

Hawkpaw awoke to the sound of wailing, and his fur stood on end. It was still nighttime, but dawn was close. At the entrance of camp, Hazeldawn was wailing, a set of gashes along her cheek.

Bramblestar came out of his den, "Hazeldawn, what's the meaning of this?" he snapped.

Hazeldawn pulled herself up to a stand, shaking heavily. "It's out to get me!" she shrieked, choking up.

"Who is?" Brightheart asked.

"I don't know, I didn't see! I was out to make dirt, when it came over me. I didn't get to harm it, but it almost killed me, lunging for my neck!" she sobbed. "I was able to push it off for a moment, to run back here. But I heard her yowling that if I told, it'd kill me!"

Hawkpaw bounded from the apprentice's den over to her, and licked her cheek, and rested his tail on her shoulder in attempt to calm the she-cat.

Molepaw dashed out of his den with cobwebs and marigold for her wound, and properly addressed. After fully listening to her story, Bramblestar decided that the killer had to be stopped, no matter what.

Cinderpaw held a look of pride on her face, and she padded over to the other four apprentices. "Bramblestar decided that I'm going to be having my assessment at dawn! There have to be more than one cat watching me, but I'll be made a warrior at dusk!"

_What if it doesn't go well?_ Hawkpaw asked himself, but decided not to say it. He felt happy for the she-cat; she had always been kind to him. "That's great," he purred.

Cinderpaw nodded, and dashed off to share the news with a few others. Molepaw had finished with Hazeldawn, and padded over to them. "I'm guessing Cinderpaw told you about the ceremony," Molepaw guessed.

A slight chill ran down Hawkpaw's spine. He just didn't get it. Even though Molepaw had recently lost his mentor, he stayed rather blatant and nonchalant about everything, so calm.

"Yeah," Hawkpaw nodded.

"Bramblestar feels that its not right for me to be medicine cat without having a full name, so when Cinderpaw receives her name, I'll be getting mine too." Beneath his entire calm and relaxed demeanor, Hawkpaw thought he saw a glimmer of happiness shine in Molepaw's eyes.

The tiredness seeped back into Hawkpaw's limbs, and he yawned, stumbling back into the apprentice's den. Sleep hit him instantly and he welcomed it.

~*~

The artist yawned, and padded out into the forest. She flicked her ear, there had been rumors going around camp that Graystripe had impregnated another queen. She sighed, and muttered, "Worthless tom."

His first mate had been Silverstream. She had given him two kits, Feathertail and Stormfur. His second was Millie. She was pregnant with his second litter when she died. Now, of all cats, Squirrelflight was supposed to be expecting his kits.

"What a waste," she sighed, shaking her head. That tom got under her skin, he really did. The artist sat in waiting. She found that Graystripe always visited Millie's grave.

As the first lights of dawn filtered through the leaves, she let off a sinister purr, waiting for her prey to arrive. It didn't take long; he always came early. He closed his eyes and sighed, murmuring something.

She shook her pelt, and pounced. Her fangs missed target slightly, and hit his shoulder. He retaliated, and uttered, "What in StarClan's name?"

With a very fast turnaround time, she sprang back at him, and sliced through his gut. Blood poured onto the ground along with a few organs. She hissed slightly, and watched as his eyes glazed over.

"That's what you get for messing with my friend's mother," she snapped. An old saying her mother used to tell her came to mind. _If I catch you being a flirt like that again, I'll take your tail._

Her claws, still unsheathed, easily sliced through the young tom's tail, and fell off. She picked it up in her jaws, and carried it off towards the ShadowClan border. She would make sure it arrived at their camp.

~*~

Hawkpaw blinked his eyes open, and saw that it was close to sunhigh. Cinderpaw's nest was cold, heat no longer emanated from it. She was probably already on her assessment.

Despite being grief struck with the loss of her sister and parents, the she-cat still persevered through it all. Hawkpaw murmured a few words of appreciation towards the she-cat.

He stood up and shook his pelt of moss scraps. The clan was buzzing with excitement. Sandstorm was talking with Thornclaw, and she let off a wheezy cough. Although she didn't look it on the outside, the she-cat was really very elderly.

The announcement of her retirement had been declared when Bramblestar told the clan that Cinderpaw's assessment was coming up. Birchfall and Spiderleg, the two brothers, were watching Cinderpaw.

Sandstorm was going to do it, but Bramblestar insisted that she didn't. Reluctantly she agreed, and was waiting anxiously for her apprentice to return with success.

Chicorykit, Saffronkit, and Adderkit were playing outside of the nursery while Honeydapple and Berryleaf watched them happily. Bramblestar had decided that since Honeydapple had fought so hard to survive, that she wouldn't have an assessment.

Hawkpaw padded over to visit with Hazeldawn and Birchfall. The two were talking happily, and Hawkpaw wondered if Birchfall had moved on from his feelings towards the dead tortoiseshell apprentice.

Hazeldawn mewed, "It's such a shame that Poppypaw couldn't be here with Cinderpaw, taking their assessment together."

Birchfall agreed. "I wonder who the killer is. It must be a cat within ThunderClan."

Hawkpaw was about to step forward to greet them, but what he heard next, sent him running away.

"Maybe it's Hawkpaw. I mean have you looked at him? He's like the re-incarnation of Hawkfrost. To tell you the truth, I think we've had enough cats born related to Tigerstar. He killed too many. That bloodline should stop altogether."

"But I like Hawkpaw, he wouldn't do that," Hazeldawn mewed, oblivious to the fact that Hawkpaw was hurtling away. "He's a sweetheart, the son of Bramblestar and Squirrelflight. They're both noble cats."

"I still don't trust him," Birchfall hissed.

**No Author's note this time, sorry guys, I'm a bit busy, but if I get between eight and ten reviews, I'll double update! ~Sayonara~!**


	10. Chapter Eight: Playful Spirits

**Sorry for no author's note last time. I was in a huge rush, and I really wanted to get it up, so I didn't write one. Thanks to PokemonKnight (new reviewers are welcome X3), Darkness of the Eclipse, Loststream, Kawakage, and feirce fire for the reviews. For the last chapter, I'm also thanking Loststream, Darkness of the Eclipse, Kawakage, Warriorz (another new reviewer~!), silverstreamrox, warriorsfan1997, and Cinderpaw11 for reviewing. I hope you like this chapter. ~Enjoy~!**

**Chapter Eight**

Hawkpaw had been lying close to the ShadowClan border for what seemed like moons before a familiar scent came over him. "Hawkpaw, what are you doing under there?" she asked. Her voice was sweet…not like Hazeldawn or Birchfall's.

She wasn't accusing, at least not from his perspective and he hauled himself up onto his paws, and looked Cinderpaw in the eyes. "I'm a bit upset right now. You shouldn't be talking to me, you're having your assessment."

She shook her head, "No, I finished. I'm here to collect my prey. I have time, though, so what's the matter?"

He shut his blue eyes for a moment, and tried to search back the long line of family members. None of them had blue eyes…maybe Hawkfrost was his father. No! He shouldn't be thinking like that.

"I overheard Hazeldawn and Birchfall talking. Birchfall said that the killer was one of the cats in the clan, and he started wondering if it was me, because I looked just like Hawkfrost. He also said that my father was probably Hawkfrost, and not Bramblestar," Hawkpaw explained, the words tumbling out of his mouth.

"That's horrible!" Cinderpaw hissed, and gave him a comforting lick. "Come on, let's head back to camp. There's no use in worrying over what Birchfall said. He was supposed to have bonked his head back in the old forest as a kit," she added, trying to make Hawkpaw laugh.

It worked, for he let off a slight giggle and agreed. "I'll help you collect the prey," he mewed, and did just that. They made their way back to camp, laughing about past experiences with Birchfall.

Bramblestar was already waiting for Cinderpaw to arrive back, and got up on his feet when she came in the tunnel. He didn't have to yowl for the clan to gather, because every cat was already waiting for the news.

"Sandstorm, do you feel that Cinderpaw has completed her training, and is ready to become a warrior?" Brambleclaw asked the elderly ginger she-cat.

Her green eyes still glittering with anticipation for the ceremony, she hissed, "Of course I do. Why else would we be here if I wasn't?"

Bramblestar gave off a hearty laugh, and mewed, "Cinderpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code, to protect and defend your clan, even at the cost of your life?" he asked.

"I do," she nodded, looking into his amber eyes nobly.

"Cinderpaw, from this day forth, you shall be known as Cindershadow. StarClan honors your strength and determination," Bramblestar purred, and rested his muzzle on the new warrior's head, her licking his shoulder in turn.

Molepaw padded forward next, and the ceremony continued, Molepaw becoming Molewhisker. "I have one last duty to make. Sandstorm, is it your wish to join the elder's?"

"It is," she nodded.

"Then I wish you seasons of rest to watch as your Clanmates continue to grow. And more seasons of leisure in peace before you join StarClan," Bramblestar finished, dipping his head to the she-cat.

Hawkpaw congratulated the she-cat, and as the sun was three quarters of the way through the sky, Brightheart padded over to him. "We should go on a hunting patrol."

He agreed, and they rounded up the other cats, Ashfur, Rainwhisker, and Tawnypaw. They headed off into the forest, and Hawkpaw let off a purr. It was finally time for him to hunt again.

This was his comfort zone. He was much better at it than battling, at least that's what he thought. Tilting his head upwards, he drew in the scents around him, and scented vole.

Targeting the small creature, he slunk forward, yet stepped on a twig, sending the small animal flying into its den. Hawkpaw cursed under his breath, and sighed. "Don't worry, you'll catch the next one," his sister, Tawnypaw, breathed.

She was carrying a plump starling in her jaws. Hawkpaw began thinking about how his size would soon diminish. With Leafbare on the way, the clans would have to deal with a lack of prey for more moons.

The leaves were just changing color currently, and the bird population would also drop as they migrated south. If only they lived down where salty waves covered the shore at the Sundrown place.

Weather there was supposed to be warm during every season, making life comfortable and easy. Yet Hawkpaw didn't regret living in the forest. If they had lived somewhere easier than this, they wouldn't be as hardened and tough as they were supposed to be.

Opening his jaws once more, he continued on the hunt.

~*~

Letting off a snarl, the artist growled. The cranky queen, Ferncloud, had insulted her for being young. She had retorted, "Seize the opportunity of being young. Have kits early like I did. Have them now, they'll be trained during the warmer weather."

When she had answered, "I want to wait till I'm a bit older."

Ferncloud had narrowed her pale green eyes, and snapped, "The clan has cats training, losing just one wouldn't matter! Use the opportunity, as you should. I've already convinced some of the others. ThunderClan needs young to train. Have them now. Come on, just do it."

"Why?" she hissed.

"With the killer on the loose, why not have kits. The killer might strike apprentices soon, and we've already lost eight warriors. What if he or she strikes apprentices or kits? Wouldn't a higher kit population be good? Younger warriors would be useful. Plus, once your kits get to be a bit more independent, you can stretch your legs and go on patrols," Ferncloud explained.

She spun around, and left, and heard Ferncloud mutter, "Worthless freak."

That fueled her anger. Ferncloud had said that kits might be taken next, and the artist remembered stories of Ferncloud already losing kits. She had lost Spiderleg's brother, and Birchfall's two other siblings.

Now it would be time to take Ferncloud's third litter from her. She promised the three kits that she would play with them in the forest a bit later on, and they agreed to meet her out there later.

She sat, waiting. They were kits…so she wouldn't kill them brutally, just enough to get her point across to Ferncloud. Dustkit bounded out of the gorse tunnel.

"Ferncloud's asleep, so I was able to sneak away," he mewed proudly.

"And the others?" she inquired.

"Oh, they're still asleep. I figure they snooze, they lose," Dustkit purred. The artist sighed, and decided she'd go back for them later. Grabbing the kit by the scruff, he gave off a startled squeak and thrashed around.

She flung him at a rock, and heard a sickening crunch, a lovely crunch at that. He had been killed upon impact, and she dashed off to stash his body by the WindClan border.

~*~

Hawkpaw crouched down, making sure not to step on any twigs. A shrew was nibbling on a seed in front of him, and he was downwind from it. Bunching his muscles, he prepared to leap.

In a moment, he shot forward, and his teeth met its scruff. He killed it in an instant and made sure it didn't make any noise to give away his presence. "Good catch!" his mentor praised.

Ashfur and Rainwhisker had gone off to hunt on their own, while Brightheart stayed to observe Tawnypaw and Hawkpaw. Tawnypaw had her tail down, and was light on her paws.

She was in pursuit of something, and Hawkpaw glanced around, and saw that a rabbit was hopping on the ground. The rabbit perked its ears, and Tawnypaw picked up speed, going for the chase.

It's brown body moved swiftly on the ground, Tawnypaw's calico frame bounding after it. Her fluffy tail was up in the air in pursuit, and her hind legs propelled her forward.

With a final push, she was on top of the creature, and she clamped down on its neck. Blood soaked the area where Tawnypaw had just bit down, and she jumped back in surprise, squealing in disgust.

Picking it up by the scruff, she set it down with Hawkpaw's shrew. "Blood is so gross," she spat.

Hawkpaw agreed, and decided to go for one more piece of prey. Tawnypaw agreed, and Brightheart nodded. All three cats went in separate directions, and padded down to the lakeshore.

He felt a strange urge to swim in it. Although he had been disgusted by water at first, he felt a strange pull towards it, almost like he was a RiverClan cat.

Shaking the thought from his mind, he scented a mouse, and saw it scuffling close to the reeds. Using the tall plants to his advantage, he snuck over to it, and snapped its spine with his paw.

It was a bloodless kill.

He picked up the mouse, and rushed back to the place where the three said they'd meet once they had each caught a piece of prey. Brightheart was already there, a water vole at her paws.

Soon after his arrival, Tawnypaw bounded back, a thrush in her jaws. The three gathered the prey to find the rest of the patrol, when a devastated yowl from Ashfur directed them.

It came from the WindClan border, and the three cats dashed towards the noise. As they approached it, rain began falling, picking up with every paw step they took. Hawkpaw peered around Ashfur's body, and saw a small dead body on the ground.

It took a few heartbeats for him to recognize who the dead kit was, but the realization came to him quickly. It was Dustkit!

**Yeah, Ferncloud is sure hit rough with this. My computer recently spazzed, and deleted a ton of my documents, so this is the first chapter I've typed in this story. Does it seem any different? I hope not. Akane's writing style and mine aren't very different because I taught her how to type. Also, the new Seekers book, The Last Wilderness just came out recently, and it's really good so far, so if you've been keeping up with the series, you should buy it! Well, please review. ~Sayonara~!**


	11. Chapter Nine: Eight Legs

**Chapter nine up now~! Thank-you to Kawakage, Loststream, Lugirox, Darkness of the Eclipse, Aylen-Aussie (new reviewers always welcome :D), Silverstream rox, and Snakefang (I'm not sure what your review means, but I'll take it). I hope you like it! I'm proud to announce that this is the last chapter for a while that cats get killed in.**

**Chapter Nine**

Somehow, Hawkpaw had been given the duty of carrying the dead kit back to camp. He held the limp body in his jaws, and pushed through the gorse tunnel, aware of all the eyes on him.

Ferncloud had already found out that her kit was missing, but she was devastated on a different level when she saw his limp body. She was bawling, and hissed at him to leave.

Hawkpaw backed up, and sighed. Bramblestar padded out of his den, getting used to the ritual by then. He murmured a few words of apology to Ferncloud, and returned back to his den.

He now felt sorry for the leader. He didn't know what to do about the killer, and his clan was even more by the moment.

Hawkpaw padded over to Ferncloud, and rested his tail on her shoulder. She looked up at him, her eyes sad, clouding over. "Dustkit never did anything wrong. Why did he have to die at the paws of the killer?"

"I don't know, but don't mourn too much. You still have two beautiful kits in the nursery to look after. Look at the bright side of things, not the bad," he mewed.

Ferncloud nodded. "Thanks Hawkpaw, it means a lot."

Getting back up on her paws, she padded back into the nursery. Soon afterwards, a border patrol came in with a second limp body. It was Spiderleg.

Hawkpaw stepped backwards, his tail between his legs. Spiderleg had always been a close friend of his father's, and now he was dead. Rushing into the apprentice's den, a wail erupted from the nursery.

Ferncloud was hissing and growling, and two small bundles were tossed out of the nursery. Dawnkit landed awkwardly, and was sobbing, while Pyrekit dashed over to check on his sister.

"I'm sick of this! All I've ever done is been a nursery queen! I've given the clan a future to think about, but all I've ever been is punished. Shrewpaw died, Larchkit and Hollykit died, and now Dustpelt _and_ Dustkit died, both killed by a murderer in the clan. I'm officially retiring. Don't ever show me another kit, or I'll slaughter them myself!" she yowled, breaking down by the end of the speech.

Hawkpaw peered out of the den, thankful that he had taken cover. Dawnkit was still in a weird position on the ground, and he padded over to the kit. He nudged her to her paw, and he could tell immediately that her leg was broken.

"Molewhisker!" he called to the medicine cat. "Dawnkit's leg is broken!"

The medicine cat dashed out of his den and checked on the kit. He had rushes and thick grass in his jaws, and he agreed that her leg was broken.

The sun was setting in the sky, and Cindershadow had begun her silent vigil. Molewhisker was also silent, but he was still doing his job.

Hawkpaw returned to the apprentice's den, realizing that his paws were just about ready to fall off. He curled up, and didn't think he'd be able to fall asleep so quickly, but the gentle lull came over him.

*

The artist had indeed killed Spiderleg, but not in the way that the others had thought. Upon Molewhisker's further examination, he announced that a snake had bitten the tom.

The artist had tripped him, and knocked him unconscious, later to bring him over to a place she found that a snake nested. It did the job so well, and she didn't even leave a hint that she did so.

*

Hawkpaw yawned, and shook his pelt of any moss scraps. He padded out of the den, and watched curiously as Daisy was giving Hazeldawn, Cindershadow, Whitewing, and Tawnypaw a pep talk about something.

He padded in closer to listen, and was astonished at what she was explaining.

"With the killer on the loose, Ferncloud feels that it would be best if the younger she-cats in the clan were to start carrying kits. Having kits in the end of Leaffall to early Leafbare would be beneficial," she explained.

"But we're so young, I'm not even a warrior," Tawnypaw mewed.

"Yes, but you'll be a warrior in no time. When kits are born in Leaffall and Leafbare, they start their training during Newleaf and Greenleaf, which is a great time to begin," Daisy continued.

Whitewing let off a purr. "I've got to go, but thanks for telling me," she mewed, and bumped into Hawkpaw on her way out. "Oh, I'm sorry."

"No problem," Hawkpaw answered, dipping his head.

"Daisy and Ferncloud have been trying to convince the she-cats of the clan to start carrying kits. Since the killer has taken away ten now, the clan is at a need for kits. I'm just not sure if that's the right way to go about having more kits. I mean she can leave the she-cats alone for now…" she trailed off, a light purr coming from her chest.

"What do you mean?" Hawkpaw questioned.

"Oh, I said to much…well, it's why I'm so sad about Spiderleg's death. I'm carrying his kits right now," she sighed, her eyes dulling. "He was a great warrior. Why did he have to be bitten by a snake?"

Hawkpaw's eyes widened. He never saw the budding relationship, but the she-cats probably did. He could just imagine Cindershadow, Hazeldawn, Tawnypaw, and Emberpaw gossiping about relationships.

"You won't tell the clan yet, will you?" Whitewing pleaded.

"Of course not," Hawkpaw shook his head.

"Good. I want to figure out a way to tell Ferncloud before the rest of the clan knows," Whitewing dipped her head thankfully, and bounded out the gorse tunnel, flattening her ears against the rain.

A whisker of lightning zigzagged out across the sky, followed by the crash of thunder ten heartbeats later. He found that the storm intensified as the number of heartbeats between the lightning and the thunder shortened.

Whitewing appeared back through the gorse tunnel, and Hawkpaw wondered what she did. He shrugged, and took cover under the shadow of the Highledge. The prey he had caught earlier was still in the pile, and he dragged them over to the protection of the Highledge.

Bramblestar came out of his den and looked at Hawkpaw strangely. "You're not going to eat all of that prey…are you?"

He shook his head. "No, I'm just putting it here so it stays dry from the rain," he mewed.

Bramblestar jumped down to talk to his deputy, and Hazeldawn padded over to him. "Hey, Birchfall and I were going to go out on a patrol with Tigerpaw, we were wondering if you wanted to come."

_"But I like Hawkpaw, he wouldn't do that," Hazeldawn mewed, oblivious to the fact that Hawkpaw was hurtling away. "He's a sweetheart, the son of Bramblestar and Squirrelflight. They're both noble cats."_

_ "I still don't trust him," Birchfall hissed._

"No," he growled. It was his patrol day, and he'd ask different cats to come with him. If Hazeldawn and Birchfall really felt that way about him, he didn't want to be around them for any more than he had to.

Bramblestar had finished talking to Brightheart, so Hawkpaw asked if they could go on a patrol. "You've got some guts if you want to go out on patrol in a storm like this, but I guess we could patrol the ShadowClan border. Why don't you go out and ask Mouseclaw if he'd like to join us?"

Hawkpaw nodded, and padded over to the warrior's den. He poked his head inside of the bush, and prodded Mouseclaw's side. "Huh?" he asked, yawning. "Oh Hawkpaw, what do you need?"

"Brightheart and I are going on patrol, we need a third cat, so would you like to come with us?" he mewed.

"Sure," he answered, and the three-cat patrol padded out into the forest. The rain didn't hit their pelts as hard as it did in the open camp. But still, it only took a minute for Hawkpaw's fur to be plastered against his pelt.

The group made their way down to the lake, and took in the rough breeze. The water was getting choppy, and Hawkpaw felt mesmerized by it, just like he had been the day before.

_With such a fluffy pelt, Cloudtail would never be able to manage the water. Speaking of Cloudtail, I haven't seen him around lately; I wonder where he went._ Hawkpaw thought to himself, but shook his head.

He was on patrol, he shouldn't be thinking; he should be focused. Each scent was hard to distinguish, but four black shapes came into view. They seemed too close to the border, but Hawkpaw had never seen the ShadowClan border before, so maybe not.

As they became more clearly in view, Brightheart mewed her greetings. "Having fun in the rain?"

"Not at all," a gray she-cat hissed. "RiverClan is probably loving it though. I don't get how they can handle being wet all the time."

The conversation continued on a little longer before Brightheart and Mouseclaw marked the border and they headed back to camp.

**Border patrol has been completed. I just finished the next chapter, so depending on how many reviews I get, I might update again tonight~! Please review. ~Sayonara~!**


	12. Chapter Ten: Storm's End

**Well, due to the demand of having six reviews in four hours, I'm updating again. This is a slightly more low-key chapter. Not much happens, but it does drop off at the end. Thank-you to Lugirox, Leafpool407, Kawakage, thebleachdiary (another new reviewer, yay~!), Loststream, and Aylen-Aussie for reviewing! The rain stops, and finally, no more killing! ~Enjoy~!  
**

**Chapter Ten**

Hawkpaw opened his eyes drearily, expecting another day of sloshing around in the mud, and eating mud-covered prey. It had been like this for over a quarter moon. Every eve he fell asleep to the rhythm of rain on the den.

Every morning he woke up to mist in his face. Yet this morning, the sky was covered in a dense amount of clouds, but it wasn't raining.

He tentatively stepped out, and sunk down into the mud, as expected. Pyrekit, Dawnkit, Chicorykit, Saffronkit, and Adderkit were bouncing around from safe spot to safe spot.

Saffronkit got a bit carried away, and took her jump a bit heavier than needed. Instead of landing on solid ground, she flopped down into the mud. She sunk down to her neck in the mud, and heaved herself up onto the rock.

"Blech, that tastes horrible!" she squeaked.

The she-cat was only a moon old, but she was definitely developing her own personality, as were the other kits. Saffronkit was definitely the most adventurous. She was always sticking her nose where it shouldn't be.

Chicorykit on the other hand was very shy and didn't talk much. She was her sister's loyal follower. Squirrelflight told him that that was how she and Leafpool used to be. Squirrelflight would always get into trouble, Leafpool never far from her side.

Adderkit just did his own thing. He was independent. He wasn't nearly as shy as Chicorykit, but not even close to being as bold as Saffronkit. He was the bare medium. Hawkpaw couldn't wait to see what he ended up being like.

Dawnkit and Pyrekit on the other paw just followed the three older kits around. Their personalities wouldn't start to blossom for another half moon or more.

Hawkpaw was happy to watch the clan grow, and he tilted his head up to the overcast sky. The last warmth of the season was coming down, and made Hawkpaw feel relaxed.

He hadn't seen much of Hazeldawn either in the past quarter moon. After he had turned her down for the border patrol, she changed.

Cindershadow had been in the nursery a lot more than normal too. Hawkpaw wondered what the two she-cat's erratic behavior was about. He shrugged, and padded over to the fresh kill pile.

A leftover pigeon was lying on the ground under the Highledge, the only place that hadn't been thoroughly soaked. He took it over to a willow tree at the corner of camp, and started plucking the feathers out of it.

Cindershadow appeared from the entrance of the nursery, and bounded over to him. "Hi, Hawkpaw, can I share with you? I haven't been assigned a hunting patrol; no cat has yet. Brightheart's sick. I don't want to take prey that can be used for elders or queens, so…" She trailed off.

"Sure," Hawkpaw mewed, and finished plucking the feathers. He nudged the bird over to her to take the first bite. She was older than him, so she deserved it more. Especially if she was going to be carrying kits.

Hawkpaw didn't think that the she-cat would be carrying kits yet; she hadn't shown any interest in toms. Yet with her frequent visits to the nursery, he couldn't exactly be sure.

~*~

The artist gazed up at the sky, and saw the faces of those that she had killed flashing before her. Never before had she felt guilt, but now the feeling had crept into her fur.

She couldn't manage the pain. She found a cat that she loved, and wanted to confess to him, but it was too hard. He was young, well, so was she, but still. It felt weird.

Wasn't the tom supposed to confess his feelings towards the she-cat? Well, whatever way it went, she wasn't sure how she could do it. She couldn't simply ask another she-cat or apprentice to do it.

All of the cats she killed didn't mean much to her, the only one that did was Dustkit. Ferncloud and Daisy had been giving speeches about how good it would be for the younger she-cats to be expecting.

When it really came down to the details, the artist wanted to have kits now. With the burden of being a kit killer over her shoulders, though, she wouldn't do it. She was so young too.

The clan frowned upon she-cats _that_ young getting pregnant, right? Well, maybe it wouldn't hurt. Still, if she wanted to be a mother, she'd have to stop killing. Her deeds had been done, now she would stop.

Unless something horrible happened, she would be a lovely pacifist. A cat that hated blood, that squealed even at animal blood. That's how she'd be. A perfect trick, no cat would ever guess it had been her.

Not even her own siblings would guess it. She would live out her life as normal, and the event of the killer would just go down in clan history.

~*~

Hawkpaw finished the pigeon, and saw the diminishing fresh-kill pile. He let off a sigh. Today was supposed to be his battle-training day, but maybe he and Cindershadow could go out and hunt.

Two was a small party, but with fewer cats in clan, it had to make due. The two discussed the idea, and padded over to Hawkpaw's father's den.

"Bramblestar?" he called.

"Come in," his father's voice echoed through the cave. Hawkpaw padded in, Cindershadow following closely behind. "What do you need?"

"The fresh-kill pile is very low, and Brightheart is sick, so she hasn't assigned any patrols yet. The dawn patrol is the only patrol that's gone out. Cindershadow and I wanted to go on a hunting patrol, if that's okay."

Bramblestar considered it for a moment, and then nodded. "Go ahead. But tell Squirrelflight, Whitewing, and Emberpaw to go out on another hunting patrol by the WindClan border. Also, Hazeldawn, Tigerpaw, and Mouseclaw can go patrol the ShadowClan border. You two hunt down by the lake. Prey should be coming out of their burrows. Seize the opportunity."

"Yes Bramblestar," Hawkpaw mewed, and dipped his head. It felt strange dipping his head to his father, but he was the clan leader. Emberpaw and Tigerpaw still treated him the same as he was as deputy.

He couldn't blame the two. He disliked treating his father differently too, but Squirrelflight told him it was polite.

Cindershadow padded out of the den, and Hawkpaw followed her, shaking his head to clear it of thoughts. He was going to have fun hunting, and that's all that mattered.

Cloudtail had been officially announced as missing, and as the gathering closed in, two days away, Bramblestar would ask the other clans if they had seen him. Graystripe's dead body had also been found.

Yet in the midst of the rain, no other cats had been killed. Hawkpaw let out a happy prayer to StarClan, hoping it would stay this way. Leafbare was approaching, and ThunderClan needed all the warriors it could get.

"What can you scent?" Cindershadow asked as they approached the lakeshore.

"I didn't realize that you were my new mentor," Hawkpaw joked, and then closed his eyes. The scents around him poured into his mouth, and danced on his tongue. They became clearer as they hit the roof of his mouth.

"Stale squirrel, water vole, and frog," he mewed. He hadn't scented the frog, but it was hopping around nearby, so he didn't need too.

"Good," Cindershadow mewed, and set off to track down the squirrel. Hawkpaw flexed his ears forward, pinpointing the position of the vole. It was scuffling around in the reeds.

It was still plump, but less so than normal. Leaffall was closing in on them. They just had to accept it. Lightly, he placed each paw in front of him, slinking closer and closer to the prey.

He licked his lips eagerly, waiting to bite into it. Bunching his hind muscles, he sprang and his teeth met its scruff. "Great catch," Cindershadow purred, her voice a bit muffled from gray squirrel fur.

She placed it on the ground next to his water vole, and they put moss over it. They wouldn't dare to scrape dirt over it. That would just leave a soggy, muddy mess.

Cindershadow yawned, and padded forward, opening her jaws just as a crow flew out from a tree. She was slightly startled by it, but regained her composure, and leapt into the air.

She winged it, and black feathers littered the ground. Hawkpaw sprang up into the air, and hooked his claws in its wing, bringing it down to the ground for the kill.

"Wow, thanks Hawkpaw!" Cindershadow breathed.

"No, it was thanks to you that I caught it," Hawkpaw admitted. He placed it with the other two pieces. "Shall we go towards the WindClan border? With all the noise we made here, all the prey should be deep in their burrows."

"Good idea," Cindershadow agreed, and the two padded over towards the windblown moors. The cool breeze ruffled their Greenleaf thin pelts, and Hawkpaw closed his eyes, letting of a slight purr.

Two WindClan warriors were chasing a rabbit, nearing the border. Cindershadow had a growl building in her throat, and she hid in the brush, waiting to see what the WindClan cats would do.

The one tom lunged for the neck of the rabbit as it cleared over into the ThunderClan border. He stood on the border, and his female companion mewed her congratulations.

"Go get Bramblestar, now," Cindershadow hissed, her fur rising on her neck.

"While we're here, why not hunt around a bit? ThunderClan has a whole forest full of prey, we can find something better to add to the fresh-kill pile."

Cindershadow trembled, looking at their hardened frames. If they spotted her, they could easily take her down. Closing her eyes, she waited for Hawkpaw to return with reinforcements.

For the sake of the tiny lives that might live inside her in the future, she had to stand strong.

**Yeah, I know, the kit theme still, but it's all in the massive outline that Akane has planned out, so I'm typing it. Don't worry though, Cindershadow doesn't get pregnant in this story, but in the next volume...well, I won't say if it's confirmed or not. Akane only had the beginning of that outline started. Basically, I know what'll happen in the end. Don't worry, the killer will be revealed on the last line of the epilogue. Well, please review, and I'll update tomorrow, once I get chapter eleven typed. ~Sayonara~!**


	13. Chapter Eleven: Claws and Fangs

**Sorry it took so long to get up, but I've been swamped with school projects lately. Well, thank-you to Lugirox, Darkness of the Eclipse, Silverstream rox, feirce fire, Kawakage, Hawkfire111, and CindyKayla (another new reviewer :3) for reviewing. I hope you like it, it's a big battle chapter, and one ThunderClan warrior dies...but it's during a major battle, and isn't of The Artist's doing.**

**Chapter Eleven**

Hawkpaw crashed through the undergrowth as quickly as possible. Cindershadow was still back there, possibly having to face three skilled WindClan warriors.

His paws carried him as quickly as they could, but camp was still ages away. Hawkpaw shut his eyes tightly, and continued running. As he climbed up a ravine, he snagged his claw on a root, sending him tumbling.

Dead leaves and sand went flying as he landed on his back. This sent him into a coughing fit, and his head hurt. Shaking it off, he got back up to his paws, and winced as he put wait on the damaged paw.

Blood was oozing from the wound, making a small puddle where he stood. "Great StarClan," he hissed, and gave his paw a few licks, and carried on. He ignored the pain that shot up through his leg each time he placed it on the ground.

If Cindershadow were in danger, he'd make sure that he helped her out. Just the thought of WindClan warriors invading ThunderClan land made his fur crawl, and a bile rise in his throat.

His eyes were narrowed as he pushed through the dense brush, and the brambles tugged at his pelt. He stepped on something sharp along the way, but he didn't notice any continual pain, so he figured it was nothing.

At last, the gorse tunnel came into view. He pushed through it and yowled, "Bramblestar, Bramblestar, WindClan have invaded!"

Bramblestar sprang up from his position at the fresh-kill pile, and nodded. He gathered the cats together, and flicked his tail for Hawkpaw to come over. "What exactly happened?"

"Cindershadow and I were hunting by the WindClan border, and we saw a few warriors cross the border. We couldn't handle them alone, so she sent me up here to get help," he explained, panting.

"I understand. Rainwhisker, Whitewing, Squirrelflight, Birchfall, go to the border and fight," he mewed, and the four cats dashed out of camp. Hawkpaw's fur was bristling, and he wondered if he would be chosen to help fight.

Over the quarter moon of rain, he had had three battling sessions with his father. Brightheart had decided to quit with battle training, because the techniques she used were very different from the techniques he should learn.

That meant that he was more powerful than before, and could be of use during a battle.

"I'll lead a second patrol," Bramblestar continued. "Thornclaw, Ashfur, Berryleaf, Mouseclaw, and Hawkpaw, you'll come with me. When WindClan is winning, we'll spring out and defeat them!"

Hawkpaw let off a purr, his claws itched, his first battle! He couldn't wait! It seemed strange that he wanted to fight; it was somehow in his blood. _I am Tigerstar's grandson._ He figured.

Bramblestar's patrol padded down the ravine after the first patrol. Hawkpaw led them to the exact site where he had seen the WindClan intruders. Rainwhisker's battle cry erupted into the air, and echoed through the territory.

Hawkpaw's blood ran cold as he realized that he could kill a cat. Not at that exact moment, but later in his training, he might have to kill. _I guess I don't get that from my grandfather,_ he thought.

On Bramblestar's orders, Hawkpaw crept forward, and saw a horrible sight. There were five ThunderClan warriors battling against at least ten WindClan warriors. He narrowed his blue eyes, and dashed back over to Bramblestar.

"We're losing, we have to help," he panted. "Five to ten, we'll lose if we don't fight!"

Bramblestar nodded, a hint of knowledge in his amber eyes. "Alright, ThunderClan is losing on our own soil. Let's give these WindClan warrior's a fight they will remember!"

The patrol yowled their approval, and flooded into the clearing. Hawkpaw was confused by the screeching of cats, and the flying of fur. In the writhing mass of fangs and claws, Hawkpaw could barely tell who his enemy was.

Claws hit Hawkpaw on the back of the head, and he stumbled down. Regaining his focus, he turned to face a wiry brown she-cat. She was smaller than him, but he remembered that WindClan cats were born smaller, so she was probably his age.

"Kittypet lovers!" she spat. "You must be the kin of Bramblestar, Hawkpaw right? Yeah, well you're part kittypet too, worthless trash that shouldn't even be in the forest!"

Her heather blue eyes were narrowed, and her fur was raised along her spine. Her claws connected with his cheek, and in his startled state, he didn't feel the pain.

At last, the pain set in, and he saw a chunk of his fur hit the ground. The battle was now on, and he wouldn't give in. His size was superior to her, but his agility was no match for hers.

He threw himself at her, and landed on dirt and thorns. Hawkpaw let off a light hiss, and caught the she-cat with his hind claws. She stumbled for enough of a moment for him to retaliate.

His fangs connected with her leg, and she squealed in pain. Blood gushed out of the wound, and splattered onto the brown and green ground. This only seemed to make the she-cat angrier.

She stood up on her hind legs, and brought her front paws down on him. They were thorn sharp, and stung as they connected with his head. An oak tree loomed nearby, and Hawkpaw seized it as an opportunity.

He lowered his head down a bit, and charged forward. The she-cat crashed into the tree, and a sickening crunch soon followed. She fell limp for a moment, and then blinked her blue eyes open.

"You really are a brutal murderer, just as my mother told me," she spat, and hauled herself up onto her paws.

A wave of guilt crashed over Hawkpaw, and he stepped forward. "Do you need any help?" he asked, his eyes clouding.

"No help from you. The most you can do for me is to rot in The Place of No Stars," she hissed. "Heathertail was right, you are filth."

"Lionpaw, are you all right?" a dark gray tabby tom with amber eyes asked the she-cat.

"Fine, father, I'll be fine," she mewed back, and walked off.

Hawkpaw blinked a few times to clear his head, and then turned back to the battle. A ginger tom was overpowering Cindershadow, and Hawkpaw began to grow angrier.

He dashed over to the she-cat, and she nodded in response, whispering, "Let's teach him a lesson."

Hawkpaw remembered the moves they had used in a combo against Bramblestar during one of his battle training days. From the look in her blue eyes, Hawkpaw knew that they were going to use _that_ move.

Cindershadow lunged towards his neck, and distracted the tom, while Hawkpaw dashed underneath of him. He began fiercely clawing at the tom's exposed underbelly, and he let out a caterwaul of pain.

Soon, Hawkpaw couldn't breathe. He realized that the tom had dropped all of his weight on top of the young apprentice. "Get off of him!" Cindershadow shrieked, and clawed harshly at his sides.

The tom didn't give up, though, and in turn, raked his claws down Hawkpaw's back with his hind legs. Everything was starting to go fuzzy for Hawkpaw.

Black spots gathered in his eyes, and he could see a bright light. As the spots clouded up more and more of his vision, the light was being blocked out too. He yearned to go towards the light, and prayed he could.

In a split second, his vision snapped back, and he was back in the forest. Cindershadow's fangs were connected to the tom's neck, and blood was oozing down from the wound.

Cindershadow let out a shriek, realizing what she had just done. "Oh no," she cried, looking down at the lifeless tom. This had been the first time she had ever killed, and that was the truth.

Now in hysteria, she collapsed onto the ground, a choking ball of sadness. Hawkpaw nudged her back onto her paws, and whispered, "Go back to camp, we'll be alright."

She nodded, and made her way back up to camp. Hawkpaw let off a purr, feeling that there was truth in his words, but in reality, there was not. As he faced the battle once more, he realized that he had been horribly mistaken.

He saw one ThunderClan warrior lying in a pool of blood, and several others fleeing away, horribly wounded. The worst of all was his mother, Squirrelflight. A broad-shouldered WindClan tom was fiercely damaging her.

Hawkpaw let out a screech of fury and dashed over to his mother's aide. He head-butted the tom, and bowled him over. Blinded by anger, he was clawing through the tom's fur, gray patches flying everywhere.

Finally he realized that he had won, and he stepped off.

"H-Hawkfrost?" the tom whispered, his amber eyes full of nervousness and fear. "I thought you died, there were rumors that you had a lover, but, oh StarClan, save me!"

With his tail between his legs, the tom dashed back towards the WindClan border. Bramblestar's yowl silenced everything in the clearing. "Retreat, ThunderClan, retreat!"

All of the cats looked up from battle, and the ThunderClan cats, dashed away. One stumbled over the body of the dead cat, and she grabbed him by the scruff, aided by another to drag him back to camp.

Hawkpaw let out a sigh, and followed his leader back to camp. He took one glance back at the MoonPool stream, and saw WindClan cats spraying every tree and every fern with their scent.

The battle had been lost, and so had their territory. With all of the recent deaths, ThunderClan had grown weak.

Hawkpaw was only eight and a quarter moons old. He wouldn't become a warrior for another four, maybe even five moons. It took a long time, and it would be ages before ThunderClan was back to its strong and bold state.

**Thanks for reading, I hope you liked it. Please review, and I'll try to update soon. I'm going on a skiing trip tomorrow, so I might be typing on the drive up to the mountain. Well, please review, and ~Sayonara~!**


	14. Chapter Twelve: Melancholy Memories

**Sorry it took so long, but I've been swamped with assignments. This chapter is a blast to the past, going through the memories of most of the cats. I hope you like it, and thanks to all of my reviewers, ~enjoy~!**

**Chapter Twelve**

As dawn's light shone on the camp, Sandstorm, Longtail, and Mousefur, the sane elders, took Berryleaf's body out to be buried. He had apparently saved Whitewing's life and took the fatal blow during battle.

Honeydapple, though, was strikingly all right. The clan figured that she'd be torn to pieces. Yet, she was fine. Chicorykit, Saffronkit, and Adderkit were bawling at her side, Chicorykit, amazingly, the most quiet of them all.

Hawkpaw padded over to Honeydapple. "I'm really sorry," he mewed. His blue eyes were a bit dulled. The killer hadn't struck this time; a WindClan warrior had killed him.

That was a good thing, but in retrospect, it wasn't. ThunderClan's lack of warriors had caused them to lose the battle.

"Don't worry about it," she meowed. Her bright blue eyes looked like they were on the verge of tears, but her body betrayed no signs of it.

"I thought you'd be more like Ferncloud, learning that your mate had died," he paused, "The whole clan thought you would."

The she-cat shut her eyes tightly, and drew in a deep breath. "The truth is…I already knew that he was going to die," she admitted.

Hawkpaw gaped in amazement. How could this she-cat know that her mate was going to die?

"When Ferncloud went insane, they shared with me the fact that Berryleaf would die in a future battle. They wanted me to know this so that I wouldn't go mental like Ferncloud did. I took it in, and still acted the same around him, treasuring every last moment I had with him. I can't say that I'm hurt, but I can't say I'm perfectly fine either."

Hawkpaw nodded, and sat there for a few more moments before getting up to go and talk to Cindershadow about it. She had been recovering from the shock of killing the WindClan tom, and he wanted to make sure that she was all right.

"Hey, how are you?" he mewed, sitting down next to her. She was curled up away from him in the warrior's den. He sighed, hoping she'd be all right.

"Alright, I guess," she sighed, and sat up. "I can't believe that I killed another cat, I feel so horrible! It's against the warrior code to kill in battle unless it's completely necessary, and I think I broke that rule."

"I would've died, you did the right thing," he assured her, and gave her a lick on the cheek. "Come on, let's go for a walk. It'll clear your head."

Cindershadow nodded, and the two padded out of the den, and towards the tunnel. "You guys going on patrol?" the familiar voice of Hazeldawn asked.

"No, a walk," Hawkpaw answered, trying to evade the she-cat.

"Can we join then?" Birchfall, who had been standing next to her, asked.

"Fine," he shot back coldly, and the four walked out into the woods. Cindershadow gave him a curious look, and he butted her in the shoulder. "I'll tell you later," he whispered.

She snorted, and had a mischievous look in her eyes. She shot off ahead, and Hawkpaw dashed after her. He grew close enough to pounce, and he landed on her back, and the two began tumbling over each other.

They finished in front of a sad area, and Cindershadow had him pinned, again. Hawkpaw wiggled out from underneath of her, and shook the scraps of bracken and undergrowth from his pelt.

The two were laughing for a moment before Hawkpaw came to realize where they were. They were standing where the clan burial ground was. Hawkpaw stepped back, and Cindershadow realized it too.

In a separate area were freshly dug graves; those were the graves where the cats killed by The Killer were lying at rest. Hawkpaw padded over to the first, and sighed. This was where their old leader, Firestar, was buried.

_The fresh breeze ruffled his ginger coat, and his green eyes sparkled. The clans had finally made it to their new homes, and a new prophecy had been restored._

_ This prophecy had been like no other, Tigerstar's son, and his daughter had saved ThunderClan, along with four other travelers. Crowfeather of WindClan, Stormfur and Feathertail of RiverClan, and Tawnypelt of ShadowClan had traveled with the two ThunderClan cats._

_ Oh, how terribly mistaken had he and Cinderpelt been when they interpreted the first sign, a tiger inside flames, destroying the forest. Chuckling to himself, he remembered how desperately he had tried to keep the two of them apart._

_ But now, it was time to perform a special deed. A deed that filled his heart with the same fluttering emotion and happiness as the first time he confessed that he loved Sandstorm._

_ As the clan cheered the name of Squirrelflight, Firestar was definitely sure that he made the corrected decision. It matched her fiery personality, and how she jumped to every conclusion._

_ She was Squirrelflight, the she-cat that matched his fire step-by-step, breath-by-breath, and glance-by-glance._

Hawkpaw looked down at the grave of Leafpool, and remembered the sweet medicine cat. Oh, how any cat could kill her.

_Smokey gray fur, pain filled blue eyes, a great tom for any she-cat. Leafpool had fallen for him, like Feathertail had. At one point, she had even carried his kits. She and Squirrelflight had devised a plan._

_ Just before she had been killed, she decided that Squirrelflight would act like she was pregnant. When Leafpool delivered the kits, she would eat parsley to stop her milk from coming._

_ They would act like Squirrelflight's milk never came, and Ferncloud or one of the other queens would nurse them. The kits would grow up acting like Squirrelflight was their mother._

_ It was all a perfect plan before fangs met her neck, and her life was soon drained away. The last thing she saw before she died was Crowfeather, replaced by Nightcloud and Breezepelt. It was never meant to happen, but in some ways, Leafpool wished that it actually had._

They moved onto Dustpelt, and Hawkpaw couldn't help but let of an amused meow.

_I had fallen, fallen hard. She was beautiful, captivating, every way around. When Darkstripe was exiled from the clan, I hoped that she hadn't been hurt in any way. I would've tracked him down and skinned him alive if he had._

_ When she earned her warrior name of Ferncloud, she soon moved into the nursery, proudly expecting my first litter of kits. Spiderleg and Shrewpaw, the sweet toms, I loved them very much._

_Shrewpaw was taken on the thunderpath, by a monster, and I helped Ferncloud to get through it. Of our kits, Spiderleg, Shrewpaw, Hollykit, Larchkit, and Dustkit stood by his side._

_When Ferncloud went insane, Dustpelt felt a pang of sadness, and knew that she would be joining him soon._

They made their way to Poppypaw's grave, and Hawkpaw purred, knowing that she was the object of Birchfall's affections.

_Her whole life, everything had gone wrong. Her brother, Molepaw, had died of some unknown cough._

_Her sister Cinderpaw, now Cindershadow, had been way too timid compared to Poppypaw, and she was always compared to the 'perfect' she-cat._

_Honeydapple got pregnant, and gave birth to a litter of three kits, so the clan swarmed around her. What had Poppypaw gotten? Nothing. She had had a crush on a tom, but she never had enough effort to confess to him._

_That tom, yes it had been Berryleaf, to tom that her sister was mates with. But now, Berryleaf stood by her side, and was in love with her. While Honeydapple suffered to raise her kits without a father, Poppypaw would be satisfied in StarClan._

Hawkpaw changed his glance to Sorreltail and Brackenfur's graves, the suicidal pair.

_Yes, Sorreltail too had suffered her fair share of tragedies, but she survived them, growing stronger than she had ever been. Her mate was with her, both of them brutally killed by an unseen killer._

_They knew who she was know, but the time for sharing was approaching. Brackenfur too, had suffered through being made an apprentice early, watching his sister get struck on a Thunderpath, and his other sister get mauled by a dog._

_Yet all of these hardships had made them closer, more perfect for each other. Now they watched as their daughter, Cindershadow, discovered love, and their daughter, Honeydapple, raised her kits._

_They sympathized and empathized for the young she-cats, as they were united as a family, together._

Hawkpaw moved on to Cloudtail's grave. The tom had always been a bit snobby, and Hawkpaw wondered what sort of adventures he had been through.

_Cloudtail had never been more proud in his life. He was angered by the fact that he wasn't able to be with his mate, but he was very proud of her._

_She finally made it into the higher ranks of the clan, having her own apprentice, and being deputy. If Bramblestar died, which was unlikely, his own mate would be leader!_

_His daughter too, oh, she was expecting Spiderleg's kits. Spiderleg was with him, too, and they were happy for her._

_Soon, she would give birth to two kits, Cloudkit and Spiderkit. That day was still two moons away, but they would be watching her every step of the way._

_Spiderleg had found a mate for himself, and his heart ached when he was away from her, but he knew that she was suffering more than he was, and one day, they would be reunited once more._

Hawkpaw found Dustkit's grave very painful. This tom hadn't gotten the chance to live out his life, as it should have been.

_Dustkit stared into the pool that all kits that died got to look into. He saw himself as Duststorm, a brave warrior. His siblings were Dawnbreeze and Pyreblaze. They were an unstoppable trio._

_He had his own apprentice, and a mate of his own. Saffroncloud was his mate, Chicoryleaf was Pyreblaze's, and Adderfang was Dawnbreeze's. It was really quite strange how it had all ended up, but it did._

_Duststorm was one of the cats next in line for deputy. Bramblestar was still alive, but just barely. His deputy, Brightheart, was on her way to StarClan, and Duststorm was highly respected._

_As time passed, he grew to be Duststar with Dawnbreeze as his loyal deputy and Sunbreeze as his medicine cat. What a life it would have been._

**Yeah, I know, no Berryleaf. His memories will come later. All of these are the cats killed by The Artist, not a WindClan cat. I hope I'll be able to update by Wednesday, but if I can't, I apologize, gomenasai. So, please, review...~Sayonara~!**_  
_


	15. Chapter Thirteen: Shifting Shadows

**Wow, I actually got up on Wednesday. So thank-you to Darkness of the Eclipse, Kawakage, Loststream, Lovehorser717 for reviewing. I hope you like it, ~Enjoy~!  
**

**Chapter Thirteen**

Hawkpaw felt feelings pass through him, like a whisper of wind would do so through grass. A sickening image came forth, of mauled bodies. They looked up at him, their eyes not in their sockets, a pitch-black whir in their place.

They were moaning and groaning about something, and Hawkpaw jumped backwards, only to bump into another zombie-like-cat. A feeling of nausea came over him, and he heard the murmuring in his ears.

He struggled to cover his ears with his paws, to make the noise stop. Yet it seeped through his paws, like they were not there. A force came over him, and he started thrashing around violently.

All of the air came out of his lungs, and he felt as though his blood was on fire. His eyes snapped open, and he was panting, "It was just a dream," he whispered. Getting up onto unsteady legs, he made sure to step over his sister, Emberpaw.

Out of the den, he saw Cindershadow eating a sparrow. The fresh-kill pile looked pitifully low. Leaffall was upon them, but gentle warmth still hung in the air. Prey should be plentiful.

The dawn patrol was already back, and an early hunting patrol was due back any moment. He sat down next to the fluffy tabby she-cat. "Hi Hawkpaw," she mewed, her blue eyes glittering in the early morning sun. "Want to share? There's not much to go around right now."

"Thanks," he mewed, taking a bite of the sparrow. When the sparrow was gone, Hawkpaw realized that it had only just taken the edge off of his hunger. "I wonder when the hunting patrol will get back…" he started, but as if StarClan themselves had answered, the patrol slipped into camp.

Instead of having jaws laden with prey, they were each carrying two pieces of prey. Hawkpaw bounded over to them, and mewed to Rainwhisker, "Need any help carrying back more?"

Rainwhisker shook his head gravely, "There isn't any more. We just had bad luck," he shrugged.

Hawkpaw stared at him for a few more moments, and then returned to Cindershadow. "I can't believe that that was all they caught," she meowed, obviously overhearing them.

Bramblestar appeared on the Highledge, and gathered all of the cats together to announce the cats going to the gathering. "I'd like to bring Thornclaw, Rainwhisker, Whitewing, Birchfall, Mouseclaw, Cindershadow, Tawnypaw, Hawkpaw, Emberpaw, and Tigerpaw. Ashfur, Squirrelflight, and Hazeldawn can guard the camp."

A burst of happiness glowed in Hawkpaw's chest. He got to go to the gathering again! Bramblestar sent the three cats not going to the gathering on another hunting patrol, while the others relaxed.

After a short while, Cindershadow piped up, "Why don't we visit the nursery? I've been on my toes for so long that I haven't gotten a chance to see Sunkit."

Sunkit had been born the day earlier, the daughter of Daisy and Thornclaw. Hawkpaw nodded, and followed the tabby she-cat into the nursery. Inside, Saffronkit was chattering with Dawnkit and Pyrekit, while Chicorykit was batting around a ball of moss, and Adderkit was snoozing in a patch of sun.

Hawkpaw thought he caught a glow of happiness in Cindershadow's blue eyes as she looked at the litters of kits. His eyes shifted to Daisy, and nestled by her belly, was a golden and cream patched kit.

It was very fluffy, and smelled strongly of milk. Cindershadow stepped forward, her tail brushing by his nose, making him sneeze. She sniffed the small bundle, and purred, "She's very cute."

"Thank-you," Daisy purred. Although most cats thought of her as an older she-cat, she was actually around Squirrelflight's age. "I hope she won't be a handful like my three are. Thornclaw is rather docile, so maybe that will play into her personality."

"Well, only time will tell," Cindershadow agreed, and the two she-cats chattered on for a bit longer, until Hawkpaw interrupted.

"I'm going to get some sleep before the gathering," he muttered, feeling out of place. His pelt prickled slightly, he felt Cindershadow staring at him on his way out, but he shook the feeling off, and plopped himself down in his nest.

His sleep was undisturbed by any strange dreams, and he woke up to a pitch black sky, his sister, Tawnypaw's, paw prodding his side.

"Ready to go?" she mewed. He nodded, and yawned. His stomach growled lightly, and the fresh-kill pile was still low. Deciding to leave the prey for the cats that needed it, he followed his sister out of the den.

Tawnypaw had always been rather quiet. Every litter had a kit like that, at least most of the larger ones did. Emberpaw, like her grandfather, had a certain spark about her.

She resembled Saffronkit a lot, in that way. Or, Saffronkit resembled her. They were both naturally curious. Tigerpaw, on the other hand, didn't live up to his name. He had once considered becoming Leafpool's apprentice.

Tigerpaw was a bit kinder about the way he attacked, as the smallest in the litter, he was lighter on his paws, and was more agile and swift. Hawkpaw glanced up at his father as he led the patrol down to the lake.

The tree bridge had snapped, truly enough, so the clan waded through the water to approach the island.

On the walk down, an owl hooted overhead, sending shivers down Hawkpaw's spine. A leaf swirled down to the ground, and Hawkpaw narrowed his eyes. He could just imagine it.

The killer could be hiding in the shadows, taking down a cat that got to far behind. Looking up from his trance, he realized that he had fallen behind. Propelling himself forward, he caught up to the group, his eyes wide with fear.

Cindershadow looked at him, "Did you see an adder larger than you?"

"No," he snapped, and gave his chest a few embarrassed licks. He flicked his ear as a bit of late-night dew dripped onto it from one of the crisp leaves above.

They finally reached the water. When it was his turn to wade in, he tentatively dipped a paw in, and shirked back at the coldness. Flattening his ears, he expected a jab back from Cindershadow, but she had already waded part way through the lake.

He sighed, and plunged in after her. Working his paws as fast as they would move, he soon found himself back on dry land.

He licked his fur backwards to warm himself up, and it fluffed up in moments. The scents of RiverClan and ShadowClan loomed in the clearing, and Hawkpaw spotted WindClan's patrol wading through the water in their territory.

Hawkpaw followed Bramblestar's tail flick, and entered the clearing. Bramblestar padded over to the other leaders, and took his place next to them, Ashstar soon joining him.

With no interest in talking to any other cats, Hawkpaw spaced out until he heard the yowl from the top of the tree. Mistystar flicked her tail for the gathering to begin, and signaled to Bramblestar to speak first.

"All is not well in ThunderClan," he began, an anxious murmuring passing through the clans. "A killer has been lurking amongst us, and we have lost many cats. Among them were Spiderleg, Dustpelt, Cloudtail, Graystripe, Sorreltail, Brackenfur, and Poppypaw."

Mournful yowls sounded off, and Bramblestar continued, "But that doesn't mean that good hasn't come from it too. We have a new warrior, Cindershadow, she's with us now--"

Hawkpaw looked over at the tabby she-cat, her pelt glowing bright silver in the moonlight, her eyes looking purple. She had her ears pinned, and her head ducked in embarrassment.

"—Also, I'd like to alert the clans that WindClan has become greedy. They invaded our territory and drove us away. They stole a large chunk of it, and I'd ask for it to be returned," Bramblestar meowed cool, an edge of malice to his voice as he looked at Ashstar.

"I'm sorry, Bramblestar, but if your warriors can defend their own territory, then we'll take it from you, because you obviously don't need it," Ashstar answered.

Bramblestar's amber eyes had a fiery glint in them, and he meowed through gritted teeth, "Very well."

Russetstar stepped forward next, and began boldly, "One of our queens, Lizardstripe, has successfully delivered a litter of three. Those kits are Flarekit, Marshkit, and Eveningkit. We also have a new warrior standing among us, Redpaw is officially Redlion."

Cheers rang out for the new warrior. Russetstar's amber eyes had a content glow, as her clan was growing stronger. Hawkpaw also wondered if she would try to take a chunk of ThunderClan land while they were still recovering.

Mistystar chose to speak next, "One litter of kits in RiverClan has reached their sixth moon, so they are now in training. Seapaw is currently here while Pearlpaw is back at camp. Also, Blackclaw has decided to live out the rest of his life in the elder's den, so he is wished many more moons of rest."

Hawkpaw let out a light breath; Blackclaw had been a warrior since before his father was born. He was very old, and Hawkpaw couldn't believe that he was just finally retiring.

Ashstar spoke last. "All is well in WindClan, and we are loving the new addition to our territory. We have a new apprentice, Lionpaw, and also a situation to deal with."

The chattering below ended, and all eyes were fixed on Ashstar as she began to explain what had been occurring.

"Every morning, the dawn patrol finds the same scent in our territory. They don't seem to steal prey; they're just there. A group of rogues, five in total, that appear around the twilight hours of the night. They pose no threat so far, but I'd advise all of you to keep your eyes out for any suspicious cats in your territory."

**I'm really at a loss for words for these author notes, so I'm just gonna ask you to review. I hope you liked the chapter, ~Sayonara~!**


	16. Chapter Fourteen: Unwanted Arrivals

**Record timing for me if I do say so myself~! Today's an in-service day at my school, so I have a three day weekend. I woke up at around 8, and for the past hour and a half, I've been typing (I type reaaaaaaaaaallllly slow when I'm tired) So, thank-you to Kawakage, Darkness of the Eclipse, Leafpool407, Loststream, Aylen-Aussie, (my god, this is scary all 5 of these I've listed without even looking at the review list, I'm such a freak!!!) PinkRhinosAreBest (new reviewer, yay~!), Hawkfire111, and that's it. ~Enjoy~!  
**

**Chapter Fourteen**

An anxious murmuring passed through the cats in the clearing, and Hawkpaw wondered who these rogues were. Shaking the odd feeling from himself, he watched as Bramblestar leaped down from the tree.

He rounded up the clan, and they headed back to the area where they crossed. It seemed like StarClan was helping them, because every time they passed, the water where they passed through seemed to be getting shallower.

In the center, some sand was sticking up. Hawkpaw hoped their pathway would be all the way drained before Leafbare set it. They had precious few moons before it arrived.

More hunting patrols would be sent out to get all of the cats fatter than normal, so they would have it easier when prey was hard to find, more fat to burn off.

Hawkpaw plunged down into the water, and waded off after his clan. A light shiver ran down his spine, and a chilly breeze nearly swept him off of his paws. "Are you alright?" Hazeldawn asked.

Opening his mouth to mew a happy response, he held back, remembering what she and Birchfall had talked about before, "Fine," he muttered.

He hauled himself up onto the bank, and shook his pelt of the water. On the way up, he tripped over a root, and Cindershadow rushed to his aid. "Go on ahead," he mewed, "I'm going to see if I can bring some prey back with me."

Cindershadow nodded, and Hawkpaw sighed. He hated lying to her, absolutely hated it! She was always so sweet and truthful to him, why did he have to lie to her? Well, beside that point, he rolled in some damp ferns to disguise his scent, and he was off.

Off to WindClan territory, of course, the twilight hours were approaching, and he wanted to find the group of rogues that had been lurking somewhere in WindClan territory.

Hawkpaw bounded off towards the border, the moved border. When WindClan had won the battle, they weren't hasty about taking a fair share of new territory. Instead of the border being at the MoonPool stream, it was around fifty feet deeper in.

In a graceful leap, he landed on the other side of the stream, and headed uphill towards where the scents would be found. He cursed under his breath as he tried to hide. The open moors offered no shelter whatsoever.

Finally finding a nice sized rock, Hawkpaw crouched behind it, and waited for the cats to approach. The soft murmuring of the wind over the moors, and the dark conditions lulled Hawkpaw into a gentle trance….

The rough sound of a voice snapped Hawkpaw out of his daze, and he narrowed his eyes. Five cats were walking, their voices dulled. A she-cat in the middle held herself the highest, and Hawkpaw guessed she was the leader.

But, then again, there was a larger tom, well, he couldn't honestly tell. As the night grew colder, the cats approached. Hawkpaw shrunk down lower, and strained his ears to listen.

"Harp, where are we going to go? We've already been hiding in the tunnels all day long, avoiding the cats of the moor!" the jet-black tom hissed. "I'm sick of walking around in damp and dark tunnels!"

"Hold your temper, Lightning," Harp mewed gently. "Come on, I'm sure we'll find a better place to live. The forest is right over the border, Ice should be back any moment from checking the place out."

"No, you won't cross over into ThunderClan territory!" Hawkpaw spat involuntarily. It seemed to just be his instincts telling him to protect his land. The moment he spat it, though, he realized how horrible of a mistake he made.

"This one seems to stocky to be a moor cat, he must live in the forest," a she-cat from behind him hissed in a strange meow.

A ginger tom stepped forward, "Shall we dispose of him now? Or shall we keep him with us for a bit more fun?"

"Flicker!" Harp snapped. "This tom might be of help to us. From what we heard on the island, your clan is short many cats. This might be the time for us to enter one of these tribes."

"Tribes?" Hawkpaw breathed angrily, and narrowed his eyes, "First, why do you think I'd bring a mangy group of rogues into ThunderClan territory? Second, we're clans, not tribes! And Third, why would you have business joining ThunderClan?"

"So small, such a fierce tongue," the last she-cat commented. "Very strange, you've been raised in a clan that lives under the trees, but your pelt is so sleek, and you have strong legs, are you sure that you don't live by the river, with that clan?"

"RiverClan? Those crazy furballs, no, I'm sure that I don't live with them. Why would any cat want to live in the water, I surely wouldn't!" Hawkpaw growled, stunned that any cat would think of him to be like a RiverClan cat.

"I'll answer your questions," Harp answered, once again. "First, think of the advantages of bringing us into your clan. You're low on numbers, so why not add us on? Second, I'm sorry, we've been through many places holding both clans and tribes. Third, we'd have business joining you because I think we both have something to offer one another."

"Which would be?"

A silence fell over the area, and an owl hooted overhead. The breezes were silent, and it seemed like he and Harp were the only to living things left on the planet.

"Sky is close to giving birth right now, so we need to stop where we know that we can be taken care of. So, we need shelter. You, your clan is weak on numbers, and we heard how you lost the battle with the cats on the moor. With four extra cats, you might be able to win a rematch," Harp reasoned.

Hawkpaw sighed, trying to make sense of what was happening. He was being swayed into bringing these cats to his camp! He wasn't even a warrior, not deputy, not medicine cat, not leader; he had no say in the matter…yet…he wanted to bring them with him.

"Alright. We can't go in at night, so you hang out upstream until sunhigh, then you can come into camp," Hawkpaw reluctantly agreed, in utter defeat.

A purr of success came out of the throats of one of the cats, and Hawkpaw padded back down into his own territory to catch up on a good night's sleep.

Early on, too early, a paw prodded his side. He looked up to see his mentor, Brightheart. She must have fully recovered, for she wanted him on a hunting patrol. He heaved himself to his paws, and yawned.

Joining the patrol, to his disdain, was Hazeldawn. "Hi Hawkpaw," she purred.

"Hello," he gave a curt nod, and didn't say anything else. Even though it was only one comment, Hawkpaw knew that he had been good all his life, and he wasn't going to have that change.

His mind wasn't really focused on the hunt, he kept thinking about Harp, Flicker, and the others. At every rustle of the branches and leaves, Hawkpaw whirled around to see if they were emerging.

But, every time it was the same, they weren't there. They must have been smart, smart enough to follow Hawkpaw's orders.

Focusing back on the hunt, he pricked his ears, and listened in for the sounds of prey. The scuffling of feet alerted him, and he spotted a shrew underneath a few leaves. He placed a paw in front of him, and a gray and white shape blazed in front of him, getting to the shrew first.

Hawkpaw let out a light snarl; Hazeldawn had stolen his prey. He let his fur lie flat, and turned away, "I'm going to hunt by the lake," he grumbled.

The light breeze against his fur, and the sun rising up above the trees made Hawkpaw feel at home. _Are you sure that you don't live by the river?_ The question struck him hard.

Waves gently lapped at the shore, a few of them breaking far enough up to graze his paws. Tugging and pushing, that was how the lake worked. Rivers were swiftly moving, tumbling where their banks were located.

He shook his head once more, to clear the dizziness from it. Opening his mouth, he drew in all of the scents around him. A vole was scuffling in the reeds near him, and he successfully captured it without Hazeldawn interfering.

In a small while longer, he was able to catch a sparrow and a mouse to add to his catch. With more time until he was supposed to meet up with Brightheart and Hazeldawn, he sat down to think.

Why had his relationship with Hazeldawn gone so down hill? It was true that he had liked her, but after the whole Birchfall confession, things had gone downhill. In some ways, he still hoped that they could be together, but he knew that they wouldn't.

Hawkpaw also was fine with just staying friends, even though it pained him to watch her fall in love with Birchfall. Yet, the one night, when Birchfall had called him not loyal for being related to Tigerstar, he drew the line.

Even though Hazeldawn hadn't completely agreed with him on that, she still betrayed signs of truth in his words. Hawkpaw didn't want to be compared to the filthy traitor that was his grandfather.

He had the blood of Firestar in his veins, the noble Firestar. One day he aspired to be just like him, and his father. He could be Hawkclaw, deputy of the clan, or maybe Hawkstar, leader of the clan!

But, that got him more worked up than he should have been, and he shook the thought away. If he got to be a noble warrior with at least one apprentice, he'd be happy.

Realizing how late it was getting to be, Hawkpaw gathered up his prey, and rushed back to meet with Brightheart and Hazeldawn.

Brightheart had two mice and a squirrel in her jaws while Hazeldawn held the shrew from earlier, a rabbit, and a thrush captive. Brightheart flicked her tail to signal that they should return, and they climbed up the final stretch back to camp.

A cold atmosphere fell over the camp, and Hawkpaw's blood ran to ice. It was sunhigh, and the five summoned cats were standing in the center of camp.

Bramblestar's eyes were narrowed, and he demanded from Hawkpaw, "What business did you have bringing these rogues into camp?"

Hawkpaw's prey hit the ground in a thud, and he swallowed, preparing to answer.

**In the outline, Hawkpaw was originally going to wake up to the rogues in the camp, but I decided against doing that. I dunno, it seemed like that was a bit fast for me, and this story is already going by pretty quickly. *headdesk* God, I just realized that I titled this chapter RWTW chapter fifteen instead of fourteen...well, please review! ~Sayonara~!**


	17. Chapter Fifteen: Hazardous Truth

**Sorry it took a little while to get up. Guess what? I'm two reviews away from reaching 100 reviews~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~! Thank-you to Darkness of the Eclipse, Ultraviolet1321, Kawakage, Hawkfire111, and Loststream for reviewing. I hope you like it. It starts of a bit slow, but then it picks up. ~Enjoy~!  
**

**Chapter Fifteen**

_Bramblestar's eyes were narrowed, and he demanded from Hawkpaw, "What business did you have bringing these rogues into camp?"_

_Hawkpaw's prey hit the ground in a thud, and he swallowed, preparing to answer._

"Well, you see," Hawkpaw started, stumbling over his words under the pressure he was facing.

"Good grief," Harp muttered, and stepped forward. "It wasn't his fault, it was mine. I convinced him to let us go to your camp."

Bramblestar looked her over very carefully and nodded, "Continue."

"We've been out in the cold, journeying for moons on end. We found a badger in a cave, and she told us that a group of clans had moved into a forest territory nearby. Finally having somewhere to go, we ventured out onto the moors, and found that these cats were very hostile. Living in cave by day, and out on the moors by night, we saw the forests closer, and we sent Ice out to explore," Harp continued.

Ice nodded, "When I came over into the forest, I was amazed. The gentle scuffling of prey, and then there was a gleaming pool. I quenched my thirst in it, and everything was sparkling around me. I felt strangely at peace in enemy territory, so I knew that this is where we had to go."

Flicker spoke next, "Shortly before Ice came back, this small apprentice was out on the moors. He argued against us going into ThunderClan territory very strongly, but we were able to persuade him using these reasons."

"One, your clan is weak on numbers, the badger told us that this was the clan we needed to find. You lost a recent battle with the cats on the moor, and lost some of your territory. With five extra cats on your side, it would up your advantages," Sky recited.

"Two, we need a home. We'll lend our strength that we have now, and will gain more over time, to your clan if you let us stay," Lightning added.

"And three, our queen, Sky, is close to giving birth, and we don't want to be out in the wild when she gives birth. We want her to have a stable home where she can be happy and raise her kits in peace," Harp finished.

Bramblestar seemed overwhelmed by all of the talking and all of the different reasons. He shut his eyes tightly, and fell silent for what seemed like seasons.

Hawkpaw's fur bristled, and he felt like he did the wrong thing altogether. He should've just stood still on his word, and made them stay away. Now his father was going to hate him for good, and he'd never get a good position in the clan.

If his father hated him…well, then he wouldn't have a cat to look up to any longer.

"Fine," Bramblestar finally meowed, and opened his eyes. "You may stay for one moon, and one moon only. That should give you enough time to refresh yourselves, and then you can be on your way."

Harp dipped her head curtly, "Very well, we will forever be in your debt. Umm, I do not believe that I know your name."

"My name is Bramblestar," he answered, and flicked his tail down to the white and ginger she-cat, "This is my deputy, Brightheart, and my medicine cat, Molewhisker, lives over in the hollow back there."

"Well, then Bramblestar, I promise we will not abuse your trust."

*

The next few days passed uneventfully. Sky moved into the nursery with the other queens, and they seemed to be getting along just fine. Flicker and Ice were moved to the apprentice den, for they were each ten moons old.

Harp and Lightning had a separate den next to the warrior's den where they would sleep. Bramblestar said it was fine if they joined in the warrior's den, and the others didn't refuse, but they decided against it.

Hawkpaw batted at a piece of moss on the ground. He was sick of his punishment. He was sentenced to stay in camp for a quarter moon because of the fact that he brought the rogues to camp.

Now he cared for the elder's every whim, and watched the kits while the queens wanted to go out of the nursery.

"Hawkpaw!" Sky called from the nursery, "C'mere for a bit!"

Hawkpaw pulled himself up off of his paws, and muttered, "Yes?"

"Ferncloud, Daisy, Honeydapple, and I are going for a walk, would you mind watching the kits for us?" She asked.

Nodding reluctantly, the four queens left the den, leaving Hawkpaw to face the little beasts. What would he endure first? Chase the tail, tackle the hawk, or kill the kit-watcher?

Chicorykit walked forward in her timid way, and mewed, "Could we go on a scavenger hunt? You know, find items hidden in the camp?"

Hawkpaw considered it for a moment. He wasn't going to hide anything, but he would get the kits to go off looking for common items.

"Sure," he purred, knowing just how to get the older kits off of his paws. "Alright, Chicorykit, Saffronkit, Adderkit, Dawnkit, and Pyrekit, come forth!"

The five kits bounded forward excitedly. Saffronkit, Dawnkit, and Pyrekit were wiggling around with anticipation while Chicorykit and Adderkit were very calm, yet Hawkpaw could catch the gleam of excitement in their eyes.

"The first kit to find a piece of ivy, a beetle, a worm, and a dandelion is the winner," Hawkpaw mewed. "Three, two, one, go!"

All five kits dashed off to look for the items, and Hawkpaw let off a sigh of relief. The kits would be away for a long enough amount of time for him to relax. Inside the nursery, Sunkit was batting at some moss with her paw.

The kit was still only a quarter moon old, but she was discovering the simple pleasures in being a kit. He sat down next to her, and she looked up at him, her bright blue eyes dazzling in the sun.

Both Daisy and Thornclaw had amber eyes, so Hawkpaw suspected that her eyes would soon turn into a different color. When he was born, he had had the same light blue eyes as Sunkit, except they gradually turned darker.

Sunkit's jaws parted into a huge yawn, and she curled up against him. He saw Whitewing padding towards the den, and he winced. It was fine for him to take care of the kits, but this queen always made his fur prickle.

She entered the den, her swollen belly giving way. "Hello Hawkpaw," she mewed. It seemed like the she-cat always had something to hide…that she wasn't exactly what she seemed.

"Are the queens out again?"

"Yeah, they decided to take a walk, so I'm stuck kit-sitting," he grumbled.

* * *

In the light of the moon, the eve before, five shapes were having a discussion about what they should do. Their pelts were glowing from the moonlight, rippling satin.

"Harp…what are we going to do in this clan?" The youngest, Ice, asked.

"I'm not sure, Ice, I'm really not sure. But, I do know one thing for sure. We're going to play an act. Sky, you'll be the pregnant queen, as usual. Ice and Flicker, you're new, so you can be the apprentices. Lightning and I will be warriors," Harp decided.

"How shall I _lose_ my kits this time?" Sky inquired.

"The nursery is made out of brambles, so during the next storm, we can gather up all the tinder we need, and set it ablaze. The shock from that can cause you to lose your kits," Lightning suggested.

"Perfect," Harp purred.

"But being apprentice…does that mean I'll have to listen to another cat?" Flicker asked, his eyes growing wide.

Sky bent over, and gave his head a gentle lick, "Yes, it does sweetie, but you'll be alright. I know that you can deal with it for a few moons. Plus, if we're going to stay here for a long enough amount of time, you could become a fierce warrior, giving orders to a younger cat."

Flicker's eyes sparkled happily, and he nodded. Ice also had her fair share of worries, but she kept them more concealed. She wasn't sure if she wanted to share a den with any other cats.

When the group picked her up, she had been a wanderer, always living on her own. The group told her about all of the happiness that could be achieved by living with them, so she went along with them.

Even though she lived with them, they still respected her privacy and let her sleep on her own, but in this clan…she might have to be in a den with other cats.

With one more question to be asked, Ice mewed, "Have you ever had a litter of kits before, Sky?"

"One litter, yes, but they were taken away by my twolegs when they were very young. After that, I've acted like a queen because I know how to be one, but I've never wanted to be a mother again," Sky admitted.

Ice dipped her head in thanks, and Harp spoke up, "We'll enter their camp at sunhigh tomorrow. Everyone meet back here just before sunhigh, and get a good rest, we want to look strong."

* * *

Hawkpaw muttered 'you're welcome' under his breath when the queens thanked him for watching their kits. He trudged back over to his den, and flopped down. Ice was inside, along with Tawnypaw.

The two she-cats had been chatting, and Hawkpaw wondered what about. He shrugged, and curled up into a ball, resting his tail over his ears to block off all noise as he fell asleep.

**Not the most eventful ending, but in the next chapter, Hawkpaw starts training with Ice and Flicker, and begins to see a side of them that intrigues him. Since I'm two reviews away from reaching 100, I'll be extremely thankful to my 100th reviewer, not that I'm ungrateful to any of my other reviewers, it's just that it's a special moment for me. So please review, and ~Sayonara~!**


	18. Chapter Sixteen: Blazing Embers

**I'm really sorry for not updating faster than I did. I think it's been two weeks since I've updated, and I hope you guys haven't forgotten about this story! Well, I've been preparing for the PSSA's, PSAT's, whatever they're called now. This has caused me to be very busy, but I'm on spring break, so I have nine straight days of nothing to worry about!!! This means that I'm going to type one or two chapters a day, and hopefully wrap this story up ^^. ~Enjoy~!**

**Chapter Sixteen**

The scent of rain hung high in the air, and Hawkpaw opened his jaws to draw in all of the scents around him. He was on a patrol with his mentor, Brightheart, the secretive queen, Whitewing, and the newcomer, Lightning.

"This territory is amazing," Lightning breathed, he seemed to enjoy how the birds sang above him, and mice scampered at his paws. Hawkpaw figured that he had had a hard life before this, and that food and shelter was a very new thing to him.

But, despite that, Hawkpaw was still irritated by the tom. There was some sneaky air about him that Hawkpaw couldn't quite place. As another gray cloud passed over the sun, the forest became darker.

The WindClan and ThunderClan border was coming up, and Hawkpaw stretched for a moment, and flicked his ear to the side. A small heated pulse rang in his ears, and he waited to feel the scurrying of prey through the ground.

Whirling around, he faced the direction of the shrew, and saw it bob its head up above the crumpled leaves. He lightly placed one paw in front of the other until he was very near the shrew.

He bunched his hind muscles, and sprang onto the mouse, killing it with a swift bite to the neck. Over his three moons of training, Hawkpaw had grown very skilled at killing prey.

Yet, his fighting skills still lagged. Brightheart had refrained from teaching him battle moves until very late into his training. She had learned difficult moves for her handicap that she felt were easy, but for a young apprentice, were very hard.

Bringing himself back to reality, he acknowledged Whitewing's, "Good catch!" with the dip of his head and he padded behind the patrol. His pelt was prickling, and he felt his neck fur rise as he had the strange feeling again.

Both Whitewing and Lightning gave him the creeps, and watching them talk happily together just threw it off. As they approached the border, Brightheart marked it, and he faintly noted that Lightning wanted to mark the next one.

What Brightheart said next appeased him, "Sorry, but you haven't acquired ThunderClan scent yet, and you'll be leaving in less than a moon, so I have to say no."

Lightning seemed infuriated by this, inside, but he betrayed no signs of it on the outside. He simply dipped his head and mewed, "Alright."

A dizzy feeling came over him, and he almost felt as though…cats were yowling, and he smelled smoke. The daze stayed with him through the remainder of the patrol, as dark clouds closed in overhead.

Their ominous shade almost shouted out to them that a storm was in the process of brewing. Darker light fell over Lightning and Whitewing and Hawkpaw gritted his teeth to keep from yowling out in pain.

Something freezing hit his pelt, and he jumped back in surprise, everything coming back to normal. "Are you okay?" Brightheart inquired, stepping forward.

His breath heavy, Hawkpaw realized that it had just started to rain, at a steady pace. He let out a sigh of relief and nodded, "I guess it just startled me."

Brightheart gave one more curious glance, and shrugged it off. Hawkpaw puffed out his chest for a moment, and exhaled. His breath was becoming white at the tip, as it entered the ever-colder air.

Life was strange at that point for him. Whenever he saw the water, his claws itched to jump into it. Whenever he looked at his reflection, he could only wonder how he had blue eyes.

The name 'Hawkfrost' had been hurtled at him multiple times too, and he sighed. Hawkfrost was his half-uncle, but his mother had been Sasha, and Brambleclaw's had been Goldenflower.

Somewhere in a past generation, one cat must have had blue eyes. Maybe Firestar's mother had them, he honestly didn't know. Yet, he was a loyal apprentice, and his eye color had nothing to do with it.

The rain began to come down a bit harder, and Brightheart glanced around nervously, "I think we should head back before it starts to storm," she suggested.

"No," Lightning countered, "I think we should continue on to the lake. We are patrolling this border, so we should finish our job."

A silent fierceness burned in Brightheart's eye, "Fine, but lets hurry." Their pace picked up and rain hurtled itself down at the cats. All of their ears were pinned, and they weren't enjoying it.

Like a claw mark in the sky, a bolt of lightning crashed down in WindClan territory, and the booming echo made the cats jump.

"Great StarClan," Brightheart muttered, and whirled around to face Lightning. "This is all your fault, if we had turned back when I said we should, we wouldn't be stuck out in this!"

Lightning pinned his ears back, and as they made their way up the hill, the found that the wind was blowing too hard for them to push on any further. "There's an abandoned badger set not far from here," Whitewing mewed. "We could shelter there for a bit."

Brightheart sighed and nodded, letting Whitewing lead the way.

The cold was seeping into every one of Hawkpaw's limbs as they made it towards the badger set. His eyes widened, and he whispered something into his mentor's ear, and took off down the hill.

Not knowing how long the storm would last, Hawkpaw wanted to collect his prey so they could have a meal if they had to sleep overnight. The shrew and mouse he had caught, plus Lightning's squirrel, were all buried in the same roots.

The prey was on the damp side, but still edible. Flattening his ears against the rain, he made it to the badger den that Whitewing had talked about, and swiftly slid inside of it.

The three cats were licking their pelts the wrong way to get all the water off of them. Whitewing graciously took the shrew from him, and sat down to eat it. Lightning grabbed the mouse, so he figured he'd either take nothing, or share the squirrel with his mentor.

In a few minutes, his pelt was fluffed up and dry. The badger den was larger than he thought, and barely had the scent of badger in it. Sand coated the ground, and the ceiling was up very high.

More lightning struck, and Hawkpaw took a few bites from the squirrel, letting Brightheart eat the rest. When all four cats were comfortably full, they stepped out of the den.

The rain hadn't stopped, but the wind was blowing from behind them, so they traveled back towards the camp at a very swift pace.

As they neared the gorse tunnel, another lightning bolt struck, right near the nursery. A deafening crack followed a split second afterwards, and all of the cats were crippled down onto their bellies.

Hawkpaw's ears were pounding, and his eyelids were shut so tightly he felt like his eyes were going to rupture. Still lying on the ground dazed, a familiar scent drifted into his nose…it was smoke!

His eyes shot open, and he looked around. An area of brush just above the nursery was set ablaze. Brightheart and Lightning were still on the ground, but Whitewing had been alerted by the smell, as had he.

Dashing into the camp, his eyes widened as he saw a branch fall onto the nursery. It fizzed, and he let out a sigh of relief, it had extinguished itself. A few small pebbles fell from the ledge above, and soon a chunk of it fell, sending a large amount of flames down.

This time, the meager amount of water wasn't enough to put out the fire, and the whole place roared with life. A cream-colored body shot out of the nursery, carrying a golden body.

Ash thickly coated her pelt, but Hawkpaw knew that it was Sunkit and Daisy. An unstable branch was looming over the entrance, and Hawkpaw knew it would fall at any moment.

Making a very rash decision, he pelted into the nursery, just as the branch fell. At first, Hawkpaw couldn't make out which way was up and which way was down due to all of the smoke.

His vision cleared, and he made out the body shapes of Ferncloud, Honeydapple, and Sky. Their eyes were wide with fear, and two kits were on the ground, unmoving.

Hawkpaw let off a cough, and rasped, "I'll get you guys out of here, I promise!"

The queens looked doubtful, but Hawkpaw knew that they'd be dead soon if he didn't get them out. The whole nursery was set ablaze, so they wouldn't get out by squeezing through an exit.

That was when Hawkpaw remembered about the secret pathway he and his littermates had dug. The rock cover was still over top of it, and he hauled it off. It was big enough for all of the queens to squeeze through, and Hawkpaw let out a silent prayer of thanks to StarClan.

"Alright, grab your kits, we're getting out of here!" All the queens looked at him, and rounded their kits up. Honeydapple carried the limp Chicorykit, while Sky took hold of the unconscious Dawnkit.

Hawkpaw went through the tunnel first, and made sure all three queens were inside before he continued on. As expected, the exit was cut off, and Hawkpaw began scraping at the dirt with his claws.

Piles and piles of it fell to the ground before a small amount of light peaked in at him. Hawkpaw purred, ignoring the burning sensation in his throat, and dug faster. He came up just next to the nursery, and helped the queens out.

Molewhisker came rushing to check on them, and a few cats crowded around him. He was feeling a bit dizzy from the smoke inhalation, and covered the hole back up, and staggered over to Molewhisker's den.

Inside, he collapsed into a nest, and let everything go black.

**Don't worry, none of the kits died. I'm not going to say that any of them didn't suffer any brain issues from the smoke, but they were just passed out because of their tiny lungs. They'll all be alive and functioning in the next chapter, don't worry. I hope you'll review, and depending on how much time I have, I might update again tonight! Please review, and ~Sayonara~!**


	19. Chapter Seventeen: Gone with the Wind

**I should say that I'm surprised that none of you had guessed yet, but then again, I can say that I'm not surprised, even though it's in the title. I won't say much more, because I don't want to spoil it. Thanks to all the reviewers, ~Enjoy~!  
**

**Chapter Seventeen**

A faint light came into view, yet clouded back into darkness. The eerie pulsing continued for a few more minutes until Hawkpaw jerked forward, and looked around. His vision was a bit fuzzy, and his throat was soar.

The scent of smoke still was fresh in the air, and the familiar gray tabby medicine cat came over to him, "Lick this up, it'll soothe your throat."

Hawkpaw nodded, and lapped it up. It didn't have any taste, but felt very warm as it slid down his throat. He let off a light purr, and was surprised when he didn't cripple over with pain, "Thanks Molewhisker."

"Don't mention it," the tom nodded, and padded over to the other patients. Hawkpaw saw the limp golden body of Chicorykit, and the twitching gray body of Dawnkit.

"More honey?" Dawnkit rasped, her blue eyes glittering with excitement. Molewhisker nodded, and the she-cat eagerly licked it up. Finally moving on to Chicorykit, Molewhisker prodded her side a few times, and the she-cat barely stirred.

"She was up the highest, and inhaled the most smoke," Molewhisker explained when he noticed the apprentice staring at him. "Her throat and lungs are in horrible condition, I need to get her some honey."

Hawkpaw offered to help him, and sat down next to the medicine cat, "So how do we go about doing this?"

"I think we should pry her jaws open, and drip some in. She'll be in less pain later if she survives," Molewhisker suggested, and motioned to Hawkpaw to open her jaws.

Making sure to keep his claws sheathed, Hawkpaw gently opened the she-cat's jaws, and Molewhisker poured the amount of honey in her mouth. Rubbing her throat to make her swallow, she went into a choking fit.

Her light blue eyes blinked open, and she looked up at them, coughing. Hawkpaw let out a sigh of relief; she was alive. "You can leave now, Hawkpaw."

Hawkpaw dipped his head in thanks to the medicine cat, and left the den. Honeydapple was pacing anxiously outside, and he mewed, "She just woke up, I think she'll live."

Honeydapple's eyes gleamed happily, and she dashed out of the den. An exhausted Sky went in too, and Hawkpaw padded over to the fresh kill pile to get something to eat.

Picking out a mouse, he ate it in peace, and a thought struck him: Where was Cindershadow? She normally would have popped up by then, and she didn't. He glanced around, and she was nowhere in sight.

Hawkpaw shrugged, and finished off his mouse. A piercing cry came from the direction of the medicine cat's den, and curious heads poked out of all the dens, directed towards the noise.

Being very close, Hawkpaw entered the den, and saw Sky weeping on the ground. Lightning rushed in, and knocked Hawkpaw off his paws, "What happened to her?" he snarled.

"I'm sorry," Molewhisker started, "But the trauma from the fire made her lose her kits. I'm really sorry."

Lightning's eyes raged with fury, but then were clouded over with pain and sadness. He shut them for a moment, and then shook his head, as if to clear his mind. "We can always try again some other time…"

"Of course we can," the upset Sky mewed, trying to fake a purr.

Hawkpaw backed out of the den, feeling slightly unwelcome. He padded up the slight slope to the warrior's den, and poked his head inside. Cindershadow wasn't there, and he guessed she was on patrol.

"Already wanting to be a warrior?" the voice of his father asked from behind him. Hawkpaw whirled around, and faced his father, his blue eyes gleaming.

When his father approached him, it normally meant that it was about time for some battle training. He shook his head lightly, "No, I was looking for Cindershadow."

"Heh, that's my little tom, becoming quite the player, eh?" Bramblestar chuckled, resting his tail on Hawkpaw's shoulder.

"W-what!?" Hawkpaw stuttered embarrassedly. "No, Cindershadow and I are only friends…it's not what you think."

This only fueled Bramblestar's laughter, "I was only kidding, take it easy," Bramblestar sighed, and then changed attitude. "So, do you want to do some battle training or not?"

Hawkpaw nodded eagerly, and trotted after his father out of camp. He yearned to be a battle-hardened warrior like his father. With strong muscles rippling under his pelt and all of his foes would quiver under his presence.

He let out a slight laugh of amusement at the thought, and took position in the clearing, waiting for his father's instruction.

Bramblestar narrowed his eyes slightly, and mewed, "Come at me."

Hawkpaw nodded, and decided to aim for his father's legs. If he could knock him off balance, his smaller size and agility could come into play.

At the correct moment, he lunged forward, and swiped a sheathed paw at Bramblestar's left leg. Yet, in many years of seasoned practice, Bramblestar brought his son down with the swipe of a paw, and was on top of him in a heartbeat.

"Try again," was all the leader said, before stepping back.

Hawkpaw fluffed up his coat, angrily, his neck fur bristling, and started thinking of his next move. If he could make it look like he was going for the left flank, but dodge to the right, it might have just been enough to throw his father of balance….

Doing just that, Hawkpaw pelted towards his father's left, and saw Bramblestar prepare the same move as the time before, sinking his weight to his left. Springing to the side, Hawkpaw landed to the right of Bramblestar, and head butted him.

This sent the leader flying onto the moss, and Hawkpaw pounced on him, like he was a small mouse, and placed his paw on Bramblestar's chest. "Gotcha!"

Bramblestar rolled over, and crushed Hawkpaw with his superior weight.

"Get off me!" Hawkpaw squealed, and wiggled out from underneath of his father. He twisted around, his blue eyes narrowed, icy. "You could've seriously killed me!"

Bramblestar rolled his eyes, "Of course I could have, but I didn't. Why would I want to kill my own kit?"

Hawkpaw lunged forward, and batted his father on the head. "Take that!"

Bramblestar only blinked at him, and stared quizzically at a white blotch on his belly. He jumped back, a feeling of rage coming over him. "You stay here, and don't move!" he snarled, and fled into the undergrowth.

Hawkpaw fell onto the ground, and licked at his shoulder. When Bramblestar had jumped back, his claws had connected with his shoulder, and scarlet red blood was oozing from the cut.

His tongue glided over it a few times before he sat down to rest. What did his father intend for him to do while he was there? The birds chirped, and the sunlight began to fade as sunhigh turned into sunset

The sky was filled with vibrant shades of orange and red and yellow. Hawkpaw let out a sigh, and padded over to a larger rock, curling up next to it to saver the warmth of the sun it had collected.

His eyes slowly shut, and he drifted off into a light slumber before a paw prodded his side, and he woke back up. Standing before him was Bramblestar, his father. "Hi Bramblestar, are we going to continue now?"

He hopped up, and shook his pelt of moss scraps, waiting for his father's reaction. He was about to ask why he had left when he realized that something was wrong, horribly, horribly wrong.

Bramblestar's eyes were filled with pure malice as he looked down on his kit. A little ways behind him stood Squirrelflight, Emberpaw, Tigerpaw, and Tawnypaw.

"I can't believe you did it," Bramblestar spat, turning around to face his mate. "I trusted you when you said the blue eyes came from Redtail, but his eyes were amber, weren't they?"

Squirrelflight swallowed lightly, her nearly closed, her head lowered.

"I thought the white underbelly was just a coincidence, and when Hawkpaw constantly stared out at the lake, I thought he took an interest in it. But I was horribly wrong. You must know by now that you brought four monsters into this world!" Bramblestar hissed.

"I did not!" Squirrelflight snapped, her green eyes raging. "You both shared the same father, they'd be related to Tigerstar either way! If you call them monsters because they carry the bloodline of a rogue, why would you even like me? I'm half kittypet, for StarClan's sake!"

Bramblestar's neck fur was bristling, and he let it lay flat. "Very well, I guess you're right. If I don't want rogue blood in my kits, than why would I want kittypet blood in them either? ThunderClan should be a strong clan, made up of pure members."

"Where are you going with this…?" Squirrelflight started.

"I'm going where I obviously should have gone a long time ago. You, Emberpaw, Hawkpaw—"

Hawkpaw winced when he heard his name.

"—Tawnypaw, and Tigerpaw are exiled from this clan. From this day forth, if any of us find you in our territory, you will be killed," Bramblestar put it simply, his amber eyes mad, his face screwed up.

Squirrelflight looked as though she was going to fall apart, her eyes welling up, but she simply nodded. "If this is really what you want…."

"Oh yes, it is," Bramblestar cut in.

"…Then we will leave now, and never return. This is your last moment to change your mind, or else we'll never come back, no matter what you say," Squirrelflight meowed; half hoping he'd object.

"No, I'm content with my decision. I will give you until Moonrise to leave the territory. As I stated before, if any of my warriors find you here after Moonrise, they will be instructed to kill you," Bramblestar mewed coldly, and padded away.

Hawkpaw looked up at his mother, not wanting to know whom his father really was, for if he thought about it long enough, he could probably guess. Instead, a different question popped into his mind, "Squirrelflight…if we can't stay here, then where will we go?"

"There's only one place we can go, and it's…."

**You all have probably guessed by now, but go ahead and guess again in the reviews. Which clan are they going to go to? Please review, and ~Sayonara~!**


	20. Chapter Eighteen: Blowing Breezes

**This is on the long side for one of these chapters, almost five pages. ^^ Well, I'd like to thank all of my reviewers, and ask if you guys could go check out my new oneshot, Diminishing StarClan. For those of you that guessed, I'll give you the correct answer, the clan they go to is WindClan. They don't enter the clan until next chapter...but that's alright. ~Enjoy~!  
**

**Chapter Eighteen**

Hawkpaw looked up at his mother, not wanting to know whom his father really was, for if he thought about it long enough, he could probably guess. Instead, a different question popped into his mind, "Squirrelflight…if we can't stay here, then where will we go?"

"There's only one place we can go, and it's…" she took a deep breath, as if she was bracing herself for the answer, "WindClan," she finally finished.

Hawkpaw remembered all the times he had made fun of the clan living on the moors, and wondered if he'd actually be able to grow accustomed to living there. He didn't want to leave ThunderClan either.

It was his birthplace, his mother and father lived there…well, at least his mother did. He still had no idea who his father was, and at that point, he really didn't want to know.

So many fond memories came from underneath of the canopy of the forest, and now, he'd have to leave all of it behind. He'd go and live with the sleek and small WindClan cats that chased rabbits for food.

He'd chased a few rabbits here and there, but he'd never actually made his whole diet off of them….

Focusing back on his life in ThunderClan, Hawkpaw let out a sigh, and thought of the adventures he had gotten into as a kit. He and his siblings had spent over a moon digging out the tunnel that he had saved the nursery queens and kits through.

That day was still fresh in his mind, Tigerkit had gone over to them, and squeaked, "I've got an idea, why don't we tunnel down under the nursery and build a new camp where we can live!"

The other three had agreed eagerly and quickly, and they began digging. The process was long and hard, and instead of digging straight down, their pathway had taken them just outside of the nursery.

When they reached the surface, Tigerpaw was the most disappointed of all of them, but Emberpaw piped up, "Now we have an escape route from the nursery when Squirrelflight says we can't leave!"

From that day forth, a rock had covered the escape tunnel, letting the new kits try it out.

Different times and different results kept coming to Hawkpaw's mind. Especially Hazeldawn. For some reason or another, he couldn't get her out of his mind. He had never made up with her, and he never would.

As they reached the sight where he had made his first kill, the scene came back to him. _The air was warm, and Squirrelflight was at his side. He was five moons old, and a thrush was pecking at a worm by the tall oak tree._

_ He gently slid forward, as if he had moons of seasoned practiced, and pounced on it. Everything came together perfectly. The thrush fell limp in his jaws, and a blade of sunlight came out from the clouds._

_ The warmth he felt from both is mother and the sun was overwhelming, and he had never felt to right ever before._

That time was short lived, though, for only four moons later, he had been exiled from his clan for something his mother had done. Yet, if Squirrelflight hadn't done what she'd done, then he wouldn't exist at that point.

Hawkpaw shook his head sadly, and continued on. A few familiar scents him, and he glanced over to see Hazeldawn, Cindershadow, and Mouseclaw on a hunting patrol. Cindershadow looked up to see him.

She happily bounded up in his direction, and mewed, "Hi Hawkpaw, how are you?"

Hawkpaw flattened his ears down to his head, looked at her for a heartbeat, and turned away, catching up to his mother.

~*~

Cindershadow watched as Hawkpaw padded off, acting very cold towards her. She wondered what was up with him, and then turned back to face the patrol. "Come on, let's head back to camp," she suggested, and they gathered up their prey.

Back in camp, most of the cats were gathered by the Highledge, waiting to see what Bramblestar had to say. Cindershadow placed her prey down on the pile, and took her place sitting with the crowd.

As soon as Hazeldawn and Mouseclaw joined her, Bramblestar started speaking, "Good, every cat is accounted for."

"Hawkpaw, Emberpaw, Tigerpaw, Tawnypaw, and Squirrelflight aren't!" Cindershadow called out.

Ignoring her comment, Bramblestar continued, "I'd like to announce that the four apprentices that were training here are not what they seem. You think that they are the kits of Squirrelflight and Bramblestar, but they are no such thing."

An anxious murmuring rippled through the crowd, and Cindershadow felt her neck fur bristling.

"Squirrelflight went behind my back, and mated with Hawkfrost, not me. Therefore, those kits are Hawkfrost's, and not mine!" Bramblestar yowled, trying to get his point across to ThunderClan.

With their eyes stretched wide, some cats whispered with disbelief, while others wondered where they could be.

"You all know how treacherous Hawkfrost and Tigerstar were, I want no such cats in our clan. I know I carry Tigerstar's blood, but I've proved myself worthy ten times over. The only thing I could do was exile them from the clan," Bramblestar finished.

Cindershadow let out a gasp, and shut her eyes tightly. She ran out of camp, crashing through the gorse tunnel. She couldn't believe that Hawkpaw was gone!

The tom had stood by her side through everything. When she lost her sister, when she lost her parents, when her other sister had given birth to kits and let the clan know nothing of it.

She had lost hope and insight, but Hawkpaw had forgiven her for the times she had spat at him. He had treated her like she was as innocent as a newborn kit, resting beside its mother's womb.

Without him in the clan any longer, she wasn't sure if she had a purpose any longer. Even though he was young, younger than her, Cindershadow had grown to care very deeply for him.

Hopefully, he would be able to return one day, and if he didn't, maybe she'd go and join him, wherever he was.

~*~

As a light rain fell over the territory, Hawkpaw stood in front of the WindClan border nervously. His mother seemed determined, at first, that they were going to be able to join the clan easily.

But now, her green eyes were dulled, and she didn't look like she was going to be able to move on. She flopped down onto the ground, and let out a distressed sigh. "Why now? Why did he have to exile me now?"

Hawkpaw sat down next to her, "What do you mean?"

"This time I am pregnant with his kits…I was going to share the news with him when he got back from patrol, but I couldn't," Squirrelflight, sobbed, curling herself up into a ball.

The rain began to come down harder, and Hawkpaw sighed, knowing he wouldn't be able to get her to the badger set den. Scanning the area, he started exploring. He tentatively crossed the border, down by the lakebed.

A fallen tree had created a space big enough to house a few badgers, and was curtained by a layer of moss and lichen.

He crept inside, and felt the rain dripping in. Grabbing a few sticks, he bordered up the one side, until it was sturdy enough to stand, without letting water in. "Emberpaw, Tigerpaw, Tawnypaw, c'mere!" he meowed, motioning them to cross the border.

They nodded, and helped him gather some dry moss for the nest. Back within ThunderClan territory, they caught a few pieces of prey to eat, and reluctantly got Squirrelflight to move to the den.

Inside, she lied down, and was soon asleep. The others ate their prey in silence, and curled up next to her. Hawkpaw had a rough time falling asleep, switching sides. At last, he fell into a light sleep and began dreaming.

He woke up in a mist shrouded clearing, and squinted to make sense of what he was seeing. A few cats with stars in their pelts stepped forward, and Hawkpaw looked up at them. He didn't recognize them; they were different cats than he had ever seen before.

Stepping forward, he opened his mouth to speak, but the two silenced him. "We are ThunderClan's future, their grim future," the first mewed. She had light gray tabby fur, and carried a scent that Hawkpaw did remember.

She smelled like Cindershadow! "Cindershadow dies!" Hawkpaw gaped in shock, and couldn't help from worrying.

"I'm not Cindershadow, I am one of her kits, and this is my brother. My other siblings will still be alive, but not for much longer," the she-cat mewed gravely.

The other tom had dark brown tabby fur, and smelled of his father, or, the cat he had been brought up to think was his father. "Bramblestar is your father," Hawkpaw guessed, and waited for the answer.

"Yes, he decided to take Cindershadow on as a mate, by choice, not because she loved him," the tom spoke. "My name is Hawkflight, and my sister's name is Emberstorm. Our other sister's name is Tawnyspots, and our other brother's name is Tigerstripe."

"But wait…" Hawkpaw mewed, and widened his eyes; "He named them after us so he'd feel like we never left."

"You're smart for being so young," Emberstorm laughed, and turned away. "I hope you will be able to save ThunderClan in the future. If Cindershadow is able to…do certain things with another cat, then we will exist in those kits."

Hawkpaw nodded, "But why are you telling me this, how do I fit in with all of this?"

Hawkflight let off a light purr of amusement, "All in good time," he mewed, and it echoed away. Hawkpaw's hearing faded, and he was left to only see the other two cats, but not hear what they were saying.

"He can no longer hear us," Hawkflight murmured. "This is only but his first meeting with us. Hopefully after time he will grow accustomed to the idea that he will have to be the savior of ThunderClan."

Emberstorm nodded. "Yes, he will have to learn faith in himself soon. StarClan can only turn time back a certain amount of times. If we have to do it many more, then our fate might be set in stone."

Hawkflight agreed, and gazed into the pool of uncertainty. It was the main pool that StarClan cats gazed into when wondering about what might happen in the future. It showed swirling images of the unseen future.

Hawkpaw glanced around, seeing them talking without him. He was starting to be able to see through himself, and realized that he was fading from the scene. Closing his eyes, he re-opened them to find himself back in their makeshift den in WindClan territory.

The faint lights of dawn were seeping through the den, and Hawkpaw yawned. He felt his mother's warmth, and hoped she'd be better after a good night's rest. Heaving himself up to his paws, he drew in the scents and sounds around him.

Yowls chorused from around the den, and Hawkpaw feared that they had been caught. Two heavy scents choked his nostrils. The first was the stench of fox, and the other was the rancid tang of blood.

**Yes, it is now time to figure out why there is fox stench, and the rancid tang of blood. Who do you think was injured? Was it one of Hawkpaw's siblings, or a WindClan cat. Vote on that, and I have a poll on my profile for the warrior names of Hawkpaw and his siblings. I already know what I want to call them, but if I get enough votes for another name, I might just change my mind XD So, please review, and ~Sayonara~!**


	21. Chapter Nineteen: Fading Embers

**Well, a lot of you guessed that it was his sibling, but you never gave a specific name as to which sibling it was. It's kind of in the first paragraph, so I guess I have to tell you now. It's Emberpaw. In this chapter, they finally enter WindClan. I'm not going to give anything else away, so ~enjoy~!  
**

**Chapter Nineteen**

Hawkpaw rushed out of the den and stared in shock at what he saw. A fox was ripping into his sister, Emberpaw, and WindClan cats seemed to be joining in on the attack!

Leaping onto the fox, he slashed at its sides, and it yowled in rage. Hawkpaw sunk his claws into its back, as it tried to throw him off. A jet-black tom, around his age, bit onto one of the fox's legs.

It let out a yowl of pain, and crippled over. Hawkpaw sprang off of it just in time, and nodded his thanks to the tom. He only snorted, and stepped back as two other warriors drove it off of the territory, towards ThunderClan.

Panting, Hawkpaw licked his shoulder; the fox had cut him there. Once the bleeding had stopped, he looked up at the WindClan cats. His mother, and other two siblings had emerged from the makeshift den, and were staring at the patrol of three.

Hawkpaw recognized one of the cats; her name was Nightcloud. But the dark brown tom and black apprentice were unfamiliar. "What are you doing on our territory?" the brown tom asked calmly.

Despite the cold leafbare approaching, the cats still looked sleek and well fed. At that point, the five intruders were of no harm to them.

Hawkpaw opened his mouth to respond, but Squirrelflight shot him a harsh look, "I'll explain at the WindClan camp, please take us there, my daughter is injured, if you haven't noticed, and I'm a close friend of Crowfeather's."

Nightcloud was bristling at the mention of Crowfeather's name, and Hawkpaw guessed that the she-cat was either close to him, or his mate.

"Very well," the tom nodded, and flicked his tail for them to follow, adding to Squirrelflight, "You look as if you're in good health."

"Thank-you Leaffrost, so do you," Squirrelflight mewed, and grabbed Emberpaw by the scruff, beginning to drag her up the WindClan camp. Hawkpaw darted forward, and dipped underneath of his sister to support her lower end.

The hill seemed to go on forever, and Tigerpaw swapped out with him. Hawkpaw mewed his thanks, and looked down the hill where they had just been walking. A trail of scarlet blood followed them up, starting with a pool at the base of the hill.

Tawnypaw eventually switched out with Tigerpaw, and they finally reached the camp. The cats had already seen and scented the new cats, and had their ears pricked forward, intently watching them.

As the entered camp, the newly named Kestrelflight had already scented the blood, and had supplies with him. "What happened to her?" he mewed, looking at her torn and bloodied body.

"A fox got to her," Nightcloud snorted. She muttered something to Kestrelflight that he didn't catch, and Kestrelflight shook his head profusely.

Hawkpaw sat down at his sister's side, and licked her cheek. "She'll be okay, won't she?" he asked, his eyes pleading.

"I'm not sure. I'll do everything in my power to save her, but in the end, she will be in the paws of StarClan. What's her name?"

"Emberpaw," Hawkpaw mewed, and closed his eyes. _Emberpaw, come on, you've got to pull through this! You've always been the strongest of the litter. Now please just survive!_

"ThunderClan intruders?" the familiar voice of Ashstar called, her voice muffled by some sort of prey. After making his silent prayer to StarClan, Hawkpaw turned around to look at her.

She was small and sleek, but not scrawny. She held the WindClan 'plumpness' that came from running to catch all of their prey. In her jaws were two rabbits, in which she placed on their fresh-kill pile.

Curiously stepping forward, the leader recognized Squirrelflight right off the bat. "It's been a long time."

"Yes, it has," Squirrelflight nodded, dipping her head. Hawkpaw was a bit startled that his mother had been more curious in the WindClan cats then she had of her injured daughter.

"Do you wish to speak with Crowfeather? He has taken on a mate, and has a kit, you know," Ashstar asked politely, with a bit of an edge to her voice.

"I think both you and I know what I'm here about. Bramblestar found out certain things, and it was no longer safe for me to continue living there with my kits," Squirrelflight added.

"Ahh, very well. Do you wish to return to RiverClan or stay here?"

A long pause fell over them, and Hawkpaw wondered if he would really be staying on the moors for the rest of his life. If he did, he could potentially see ThunderClan cats on patrol, maybe his mentor, maybe his 'father,' or maybe Cindershadow….

"Staying here, if you'd have us," Squirrelflight finally managed to meow, and Hawkpaw sighed. This would be very different from his normal life, no more forest above him, no more soft undergrowth.

He'd have to run as swiftly on the moors to catch rabbits, as he would through the undergrowth to escape an ever-growing-closer fire. Ashstar dipped her head; "It would be a pleasure to have you here."

She dashed off and climbed up one of the tallest boulders in the camp. "May all cats old enough to catch a rabbit, join beneath the Tallrock for a clan meeting?" she yowled out, and Hawkpaw was astonished by how many cats had come over.

Some came from inside the camp, others on the nearby moors. Kestrelflight beckoned Hawkpaw over to him, and whispered, "She's patched up now. Her cuts aren't too deep, but there is one that concerns me. I think she'll live, but the trauma will be heavy. Will you help me move her over to my den?"

Hawkpaw nodded, and took his place underneath of her as Kestrelflight guided them over to a well-guarded overhand, surrounded by a few shrubs. An extra nest was in the middle, and Hawkpaw rested her down there.

"Good," Kestrelflight mewed, and took off towards the meeting.

"I know you'll pull through," he whispered to his sister, and took off towards the meeting. Ashstar had just started, and he sat next to his mother.

"They have been through tough times within their own clan, as a killer is loose, and deem in not safe any longer. They wish to join WindClan, and I welcome them warmly."

One voice amongst them called out, "How could they be of any use to us? We're born slender and agile, while they are broad shouldered and large, they could never catch rabbits!"

Ashstar narrowed her eyes, "Shall we not forget about your heritage, Lionpaw? I do believe you carry their blood in your veins."

The tabby she-cat, that Hawkpaw remembered seeing before, fell silent, and dipped her head. She had brought up a rather fine question, for ThunderClan cats were used to sneaking silently through the undergrowth while WindClan cats were made for a wild chase.

"But, Lionpaw does bring up a good point. If these ThunderClan cats are to stay with us, which they are, they will need to be trained in our ways. Every day, we can organize a running patrol, and the cats can be slimmed down to size and agility," Ashstar finished.

Hawkpaw felt a purr rumbling in his chest, and his mother spoke up, "We greatly thank-you, Ashstar. We wouldn't have been welcome in any other clan, but this one. With out you, I don't know where my kits and I would go."

A warmth entered Ashstar's blue eyes, almost an understanding. "You are very welcome." Flicking her tail to dismiss the meeting, she called forth two cats, and beckoned for the four ThunderClan cats to go over to her.

"Appointing mentors already?" Squirrelflight guessed, "You sure work quickly, I see."

A hint of mischief was on his mother's face, and Ashstar nodded. "Squirrelflight, you can sleep with the warriors, and join the sunhigh patrol. They will show you the best places to hunt. Owlwhisker is leading it, and Harespring and Dewspots will also be on it."

"Alright," Squirrelflight mewed, dipping her head, and bounded off to find Owlwhisker.

"Now you three, Hawkpaw, Tawnypaw, and Tigerpaw, correct?"

"Yes, and there's Emberpaw, but she's in the medicine cat's den. She was mauled by a fox this morning," Tawnypaw answered quietly.

"Good, Kestrelflight will attend to her," Ashstar decided, and then meowed, "Tigerpaw, I'd like you to meet Whitetail. She is one of WindClan's senior warriors, and is very experienced. She trained Heatherbreeze, and was also a queen. I hope that you can get along with each other."

Tigerpaw stepped forward to touch Whitetail's nose, and she bent down, murmuring, "It's nice to meet you."

"Tawnypaw, this is Willowleaf. She hasn't trained an apprentice yet, I had planned for her to train Swallowkit when she came of age, but she can gain an apprentice early. Her mentor was Owlwhisker, and he is our deputy, so I think you will like having her as a mentor," Ashstar mewed.

Tawnypaw had an excited gleam in her eyes, and she touched noses with her mentor. She mewed something to her mentor, and her mentor laughed. They exited the camp, continuing their chattering.

"Hawkpaw, I guess you're wondering who will train you now. The answer would be me. I have trained multiple apprentices in my years, and was once a queen in the nursery. I know it might seem strange for the clan leader to train a ThunderClan cat, but I have deeper links with you than you might think. Don't think about it too hard, just be fine with it, and all will be revealed soon enough."

**Since they joined WindClan, I felt that you had a right to see the WindClan allegiances, so I made a list of updated allegiances. They should be up when you see this. Oh, RiverClan and ShadowClan are included on the list too! It took me a long time to get written up, but yep, the allegiances are finished~! Please review, and ~Sayonara~!**


	22. Updated Allegiances

**ThunderClan**

**Leader**-Bramblestar-dark brown tabby tom with amber eyes and long claws

**Deputy**-Brightheart-white she-cat with ginger patches and a scarred face

**Medicine Cat-**Molewhisker-light gray tabby tom with blue eyes

Apprentice-Chicorypaw

**Warriors-**Thornclaw-golden brown tabby tom  
Ashfur-pale gray (with darker flecks) tom, dark blue eyes  
Rainwhisker-dark gray tom with blue eyes

Apprentice-Flicker

Harp-silver and white-patched she-cat with unusual blue eyes

Lightning-jet black tom with golden streaks and green eyes

Sky**-**bluish gray tabby she-cat with amber eyes and white paws  
Whitewing-white she-cat with green eyes

Apprentice-Ice

Birchfall-light brown tabby tom with amber eyes

Hazeldawn-small gray and white she-cat with blue eyes

Apprentice-Saffronpaw

Mouseclaw-regular sized gray and white tom with blue eyes

Cindershadow-light gray tabby she-cat with blue eyes

Apprentice-Adderpaw

Honeydapple-light honey brown tabby she-cat with blue eyes

**Apprentices-**Flicker-bright ginger tabby tom with brown eyes and a black tail tip

Ice-pure white she-cat with gray eyes, large ears, and a long tail

Saffronpaw-cream and golden she-cat with blue eyes

Chicorypaw-light honey brown tabby she-cat

Adderpaw-dark cream tom with golden paws and tabby striped tail

**Queens-**Daisy-cream-colored, long-furred cat from the horseplace, mother of Thornclaw's kit, Sunkit (cream and golden patched she-cat)

**Kits-**Dawnkit-light gray tabby she-cat, mother-Ferncloud, father-Dustpelt

Pyrekit-light brown tom with bright amber eyes, mother-Ferncloud, father-Dustpelt

**Elders-**Mousefur-small dusky brown she-cat

Longtail-pale tabby tom with black stripes, retired early due to failing sight

Sandstorm-pale ginger she-cat

Ferncloud-pale gray (with darker flecks) she-cat

**WindClan**

**Leader-**Ashstar-light gray tabby she-cat with amber eyes

Apprentice-Hawkpaw

**Deputy-**Owlwhisker-light brow tabby tom with blue eyes

**Medicine Cat-**Kestrelflight-brownish gray tom with white splotches

**Warriors-**Crowfeather-dark gray tabby tom with dark blue eyes

Apprentice-Lionpaw

Whitetail-small white she-cat with green eyes

Apprentice-Tigerpaw

Nightcloud-jet-black she-cat with green eyes

Weaselfur-ginger tom with white paws

Harespring-swift, brown and white tom with light green eyes

Leaffrost-dark brown tabby tom with amber eyes

Apprentice-Smokepaw

Dewspots-spotted gray tabby she-cat

Willowleaf-gray she-cat with green eyes

Apprentice-Tawnypaw

Antear-brown tom with one black ear

Emberfoot-gray tom with two darker paws

Apprentice-Sunpaw

Heatherbreeze-light brown tabby she-cat with stunning blue heather eyes

Breezeflight-jet-black tom with amber eyes

Squirrelflight-dark ginger she-cat with green eyes

**Apprentices-**Sunpaw-tortoiseshell she-cat with a large white mark on her forehead

Lionpaw-wiry brown tabby she-cat with heather blue eyes

Smokepaw-jet black tom with light blue eyes

Hawkpaw-dark brown tabby tom with piercing blue eyes

Tawnypaw-ginger, brown, and black she-cat with a white tipped tail

Tigerpaw-dark brown tabby tom with amber eyes and a white underbelly

Emberpaw-bright ginger tabby she-cat with a few darker flecks

**Queens-**Gorsetail-very pale gray and white she-cat, mother of Thistlekit (golden brown tabby she-cat), Sedgekit (light brown tabby tom), and Swallowkit (dark gray tabby she-cat)

**Elders-**Morningflower-very old tortoiseshell queen, oldest cat in WindClan

Webfoot-dark gray tabby tom

Tornear-gray tabby tom with a nick in his ear

**ShadowClan**

**Leader-**Russetstar-dark ginger tabby she-cat with dark amber eyes

**Deputy-**Rowanclaw-pale ginger tabby tom with blue eyes

**Medicine Cat-**Littlecloud-very small brown tabby tom with light blue eyes

**Warriors-**Oakfur-small brown tom with amber eyes

Rowanclaw-light ginger tabby tom with amber eyes

Smokefoot-dark gray tom with dark green eyes

Apprentice-Owlpaw

Ivytail-black, white, and tortoiseshell she-cat with green eyes

Toadfoot-dark brown tabby tom with blue eyes

Crowfrost-black and white tom with blue eyes

Apprentice-Olivepaw

Kinkfur- brown tabby she-cat with long fur that sticks out at all angles and green eyes

Ratclaw-dark brown tom with a long scar running down his back

Apprentice-Shrewpaw

Snakefang-dark brown tom with a tabby striped tail

Apprentice-Scorchpaw

Whitewater-white she-cat with long fur and is blind in one of her blue eyes

Redlion-reddish brown tabby she-cat with amber eyes

**Apprentices-**Owlpaw-light brown tabby tom with amber eyes

Olivepaw-tortoiseshell she-cat with light green eyes

Shrewpaw-light gray she-cat with black paws

Scorchpaw-dark gray tabby tom

**Queens-**Lizardstripe-pale brown tabby she-cat with blue eyes, mother of Marshkit (very pale brown tabby she-cat), Eveningkit (dark gray tom), and Flarekit (ginger she-cat)

Tawnypelt-tortoiseshell she-cat with green eyes, mother of Rowanclaw's kits, Tigerkit (dark brown tabby tom), Flamekit (bright ginger tom), and Dawnkit (cream furred she-cat)

Snowbird-pure white she-cat

**Elders-**Cedarheart-dark gray tom

Tallpoppy-long legged light brown tabby she-cat

**RiverClan**

**Leader-**Mistystar-bluish gray she-cat with misty blue eyes

**Deputy-**Reedwhisker-jet black tom with greenish amber eyes

**Medicine Cat-**Mothwing-golden brown tabby she-cat with amber eyes

Apprentice-Willowshine

**Warriors-**Blackclaw-smoky black tom with green eyes

Voletooth-small brown tabby tom with amber eyes

Apprentice-Minnowpaw

Mosspelt-tortoiseshell she-cat with blue eyes

Apprentice-Pebblepaw

Beechfur-light brown tom

Rippletail-dark gray tabby tom with blue eyes

Apprentice-Seapaw

Dawnflower-pale gray she-cat with dark blue eyes

Dapplenose-mottled gray she-cat

Pouncetail-ginger and white tom

Apprentice-Pearlpaw

Mintfur-light gray tabby tom

Apprentice-Nettlepaw

Otterheart-dark brown tabby she-cat

Pinefur-very shorthaired brown tabby she-cat

Apprentice-Robinpaw

Rainstorm-mottled blue-gray tom with blue eyes

Duskfur-brown tabby she-cat

Apprentice-Copperpaw

**Apprentices-**Willowpaw-small, dark gray tabby she-cat with big blue eyes

Minnowpaw-dark gray-and-white she-cat with fluffy fur and sharp, amber eyes

Pebblepaw-mottled gray tom

Nettlepaw-dark brown tabby tom

Robinpaw-tortoiseshell and white tom

Copperpaw-dark ginger she-cat

Seapaw-bluish gray she-cat with light blue eyes

Pearlpaw-very light gray tabby she-cat with dark green eyes

**Queens-**Graymist-pale gray tabby she-cat, mother of Streamkit (gray and white tom) and Mallowkit (light brown tabby she-cat)

Icewing-white she-cat with light green eyes, mother of Beetlekit (brown and white tabby tom), Pricklekit (gray and white she-cat), Grasskit (light brown tom), and Petalkit (gray and white she-cat)

**Elders-**Heavystep-old, thickset brown tabby tom with a deformed hind leg

Swallowtail-dark brown tabby she-cat with green eyes

Stonestream-gray tom


	23. Chapter Twenty: Territory Tour

**Oh my god, guys, I'm so sorry! I haven't updated in ages, and I severely apologize for that! On a brighter note, though, Summer is approaching, which means daily updates once more. ^^ So the reasoning as to my disappearance is that I had finals, and college prep, which took up all of my free time. But it's all over now, so I'm free to finish up. Alright, well, I guess I should answer some questiony things, so, here we go:**

**xscreamyourself-I guess your questions are answered, I am continuing it :3**

**frostfur0501-Sorry about the names, I just didn't like the old ones. Also, that's the secret, all will be revealed in the epilogue after chapter thirty five~!**

**LaceyA.K.2410-I never said that Emberpaw is the killer, and *spoiler* she isn't. But, yeah, I am continuing...so...nothin else to say XD**

**Everyone-I realized that I made a mistake with Squirrelflight in ThunderClan, so I fixed it, thanks for letting me know, so I hope you enjoy it~!  
**

**Chapter Twenty**

Ashstar decided that Hawkpaw was to introduce himself to the other apprentices first. The apprentice's den was at the base of the hill, so a small overhang of land covered an area of it.

There were two separate areas for moss to be placed. The overhang was where the apprentices would sleep if it rained. Hawkpaw slipped through the ferns that enclosed the den, and saw three apprentices chattering inside.

He recognized Lionpaw and Smokepaw, but was unfamiliar of the third. She was a tortoiseshell with a big blotch of white on her forehead. Hawkpaw took a seat on the moss, and mewed, "Ashstar said to introduce myself, and get to know you."

Lionpaw snorted, "I seriously don't get why lumpy ThunderClan slugs get the honor of staying in WindClan territory. Especially the infamous leader's kits."

"Bramblestar isn't my father," Hawkpaw growled.

Lionpaw seemed taken aback by this, and Smokepaw was about to shoot something back, but the tortoiseshell stepped in, "Don't mind them. Their mother was an apprentice when she gave birth. They've always been a little edgy. I'm Sunpaw by the way."

"Nice to meet you, Sunpaw," Hawkpaw dipped his head, "You probably already know that I'm Hawkpaw, Ashstar made a pretty big deal out of our arrival back there."

"Hawkpaw, nice name. Want me to show you all the warriors? I won't introduce you to them, because some of them can be…strange about newcomers," Sunpaw explained quickly, and flicked her tail for Hawkpaw to follow her.

Hawkpaw nodded, and eagerly bounded after the she-cat. The warrior's den was in the center of camp, just in front of the stone-cleft nursery. A wall of ferns and gorse surrounded it; so it was sheltered from the wind, yet open to the stars.

A light zephyr ruffled Hawkpaw's pelt, and he fluffed it up. His pelt still wouldn't be leafbare thick for another moon or two, and if he was going to be living up on the open moors, he could really use the extra fur.

The first warrior to emerge from the den was a ginger tom with white paws. "That's Weaselfur, he's one of the senior warriors in the clan. He can get a bit grumpy at times, so that makes him great for border patrols. Also, it might not seem like it, but he's a great father towards Swallowkit, Sedgekit, and Thistlekit."

After that, Sunpaw told him about the nimble Antear, to the swift Breezeflight, to the contempt Nightcloud, and the hollow Leaffrost.

Once most of the warriors had been explained with much depth, Hawkpaw returned to his mentor, Ashstar to see what she had in store for him next. "I see, Sunpaw 'introduced' you to some of the other warriors around camp. That's good…"

Hawkpaw dipped his head slightly, hoping he hadn't done wrong be taking extra time to let Sunpaw show him around.

"Why don't we start on the territory first, then? Your mother said that you are about three and a half moons through your training, so you have about another three and a half to go."

Hawkpaw nodded eagerly, and waited for his mentor to make the first move. She had been smart enough to know that he wouldn't be able to catch up as quickly, so her gate was slower.

Yet Hawkpaw still had to pelt across the moor to catch up with her, panting by the time they reached the ThunderClan border. "As you know, this is the re-located ThunderClan border. It's marked from the pine tree nine foxlengths from the stream, to that stump, and then to the boulder. That's our new border."

Wanting to know more, Hawkpaw inquired, "Why exactly did you move the border with ThunderClan? I know that there are a good amount of cats in WindClan, but what was the motive?"

Ashstar let off a light mew of amusement, and answered, "What you'll have to find out soon enough is that our borders have been pressed by ThunderClan for countless moons. They don't think that we have a right to the woods because we live out on the open moors. But by taking the extra piece of ThunderClan territory, we are showing that we can do much more than hunt on the moors."

Hawkpaw could sense that there was more that the she-cat wasn't telling him, but he decided not to ask anything more. Ashstar took off once more down towards the lakeshore.

"This is where the apprentices are trained," Ashstar mewed. Hawkpaw wondered why she had taken him to the top of a hill near the lake, but then he realized her tail was pointing down to a sheltered valley created by the fall of two hills.

It was well protected, and he heard the faint scuffling down below. When he peered over the edge, he saw Lionpaw and Crowfeather tussling together in a mass of fur. "Does that mean I'll train here some day?"

"Yes, of course," Ashstar mewed. The next location was an abandoned badger set. "During times of great flooding, our camp gets submerged because it is in so great of a dip. There's virtually no scent left in the set, and that's where the clan moves when it floods."

Cautiously, with his mentor's permission, Hawkpaw slid inside the den, and blinked his eyes to adjust to the darkness. Light was coming in from a shaft, and the ground was sandy and soft.

The remnants of mossy nests and a few bones from prey were pushed into a corner, and Hawkpaw walked around a bit further. He sensed Ashstar entering the den behind him, and he explored the dips and hollowed out areas.

Clumps of moss were gathered in the largest of the dips, and Hawkpaw figured that that was where the warriors slept. A smaller dip was for the apprentices, and the best sheltered he guessed was for the nursery.

Where shriveled herbs were located he figured was the medicine cat's den, and the elder's section was towards the front. "It's amazing down here," he breathed, and his blue eyes stretched wide in awe.

"Thank-you," Ashstar purred. "Owlwhisker found it, and we've used it ever since." Flicking her tail to him, Hawkpaw followed her out, and jumped back in surprise when a large gust of wind buffeted his fur.

_I don't know how they can survive it out here! It's close to Leaffall right now, and I'm shivering at this breeze. I hope that my coat from ThunderClan will grow in thickly in time for leafbare…_ Hawkpaw thought to himself.

He was panting now, and his side cramped. After a long night of sleep, his muscles would surely be screaming with pain when he would awaken.

Ashstar seemed to sense him slowing down, so she began walking. Hawkpaw flicked his ears in happiness, and fell into step beside his leader. The grass in that area came up higher, as they neared the RiverClan border.

It came up above his belly fur, and brushed against his shoulders. That really showed him that he had a lot of growing left, because the prickly grass fell below Ashstar's belly fur.

Hawkpaw let off a yawn, and sunk his claws into the peaty ground as Ashstar brought to a halt. "This stream is our border with RiverClan. All actions have been relatively quiet lately, but that can change drastically. While we can take over ThunderClan territory, we generally wouldn't for RiverClan because they only have fish, and their land is _very_ different from ours."

"That would make sense," Hawkpaw mewed, half lying though. The water always pulled him in with such a fierce intensity that he could never quite explain. "Can I get a drink?" he asked.

"Of course," Ashstar mewed, and Hawkpaw took the opportunity. He stood and looked at his reflection for a few heartbeats. His dark brown tabby fur showed muscles rippling underneath of his pelt.

His blue eyes were bright, and his pupils were very small, since sunhigh had just passed. Hawkpaw bent over, and lapped up some of the crystal clear water. It rolled down his throat, and sent light shivers down his spine.

He continued drinking though, searching his mind for any reasoning as to why the river attracted him so much. Yet the answer did not come, and he sat back up, and swiped his paw over his whiskers to disperse all of the water droplets.

"Finished," he mewed to his mentor, and Ashstar nodded, taking off running once more. _More running? _Hawkpaw grumbled to himself, and pelted off after the she-cat. His muscles were already aching, and now he wished that they wouldn't begin to hurt until after he slept.

Yet the salvation did not come, and the pain did not cease. Ashstar slowed her pace to a trot, and then to a walk as they neared a hollowed trunk. Hawkpaw sprinted ahead, only to be interrupted by the sharp command from his mentor of, "Stop!"

His fur standing on end, Hawkpaw turned around, and hissed, "What?"

"That's what we call AdderStump! A whole nest of adders live under ground, and they come out when a cat is stupid enough to walk up to it. If you didn't know it, adders can kill even the strongest of warrior's with a single bite. You're still pretty small, so you'd be killed pretty quickly," Ashstar ranted, and then sighed. "Sorry for snapping, but don't run off ahead of me again."

"Alright, I promise I won't," Hawkpaw vowed, his fur still puffed up. "How quickly would an adder come out, anyways?"

Ashstar bent over, and picked up a rock in her mouth, she tossed it over at the stump, it hit in head on. A light hissing noise came from the stump, and the lithe body of an adder slithered out.

The two were still standing a good distance away, but Ashstar was still in a hurry to get away, "Satisfied?" she asked, climbing up the next hill.

"Yes," Hawkpaw echoed, following her up. The last sight on their trip was a bit of sand, a short distance away from the camp.

It was the remains of a collapsed badger den, and Hawkpaw wondered nervously if the badger set that the clan fled to during the floods could end up like that. He reached forward a tentative paw, and dabbed it into the sand.

The sand sunk down, leaving an impression of his paw, and a sneaky thought came to his mind. He scooped some of the sand into his paw, and flung it at Ashstar.

The gray she-cat let off a playful snarl, and flung some sand back at him. Hawkpaw purred, and unsheathed a claw, running around the distance of the sandpit, making a circle around it.

He lay down on the ground, out of breath once more. His life in WindClan was going to be a good one; he just knew it.

**Since I haven't updated in a while, I hope that this is a sufficient chapter for you guys, so please review and tell me what you think!**


	24. Chapter Twentyone:  Dark Alliance

**Sorry it took a little while to get up, but I'm sure it's worth it! I made a major production decision for this story, and I'm changing it up a bit. It will end at roughly chapter thirty five, and I'm skipping time, because I'm writing a sequel for this, and I want Hawkpaw to be matured out all the way when the big leap happens. So thank-you to Kawakage (yes, Heatherbreeze is their mother), Silverheart-silvie, LaceyA.K.2410, and Whitetail of AppleClan for reviewing! I hope you enjoy~!**

**Chapter Twenty One**

After pausing to catch his breath for a few heartbeats, Hawkpaw narrowed his eyes, looking at Ashstar. "Come at me," she repeated, her voice echoing through the large valley between the peaks of two hills.

Hawkpaw lashed his tail, and sighed. His muscles still ached, after the tour of the territory the day before; he barely had any time to sleep before his mentor woke him up once more for battle training.

A crisp leaf fluttered by overhead, and a lone crow let out its deafening, "cacaw!" Hawkpaw flicked his ear in response to Ashstar, and hurled himself forward, letting off a high leap.

He hoped he would land on the gray fur of Ashstar's back, but only grass welcomed him as he hit the ground awkwardly.

Getting back up to his paws, he saw Ashstar at the other end of the clearing once more. Hawkpaw let off a silent snarl, _why can't I be faster?_ He begged the question to himself. From the mischievous glint in Ashstar's blue eyes, he could tell that he had to try again.

Even though the day was cold, Hawkpaw's pelt was pulsing with heat. He had been at it for nearly an hour, and still he had no luck of actually touching his mentor. He narrowed his blue eyes as well, and tried it again.

Making his paws move as fast as possible, Hawkpaw hurtled himself down the stretch of moorland that was between him and his mentor. Ashstar began ducking out to the left, so as she made her way up one of the ridges, Hawkpaw rotated around, and slammed into her as she came back down the hill.

This move had obviously taken Ashstar by surprise, because she let off a startled caterwaul and the two bowled over one another.

Ashstar ended up on top, pinning Hawkpaw down, but the important thing was that he was able to catch up to her, and tackle her. "In a normal battle," Ashstar began, getting off of her apprentice, "You would be dead by now. I could have delivered the death blow, and you would be a dead apprentice, gone from our clan."

"But"—Hawkpaw started, but was interrupted.

"No buts, cats in battle are brutal, and if you can't be fast enough, you won't survive," Ashstar threatened. "So no more battle—or hunting—training for now, we're going to do some _special_ training."

Hawkpaw gulped, not liking the sound of this. He had been about to add to Ashstar that WindClan cats were the fastest clan around, and unless WindClan was battling itself, just the fact that he could catch up to Ashstar meant that he was already faster than most cats.

But, he assumed that if he had said this, he'd get more than a cuff around the ear and a lecture, so he remained silent. A sneaking suspicion about what this _special training_ was began to set into Hawkpaw's pelt as the neared one of the tallest hills on the moor.

His blood ran cold as he realized that Ashstar was going to make him run up and down the hill, back and forth, without any edgewise, for as long as it took. She couldn't make him run forever, but surely she could make him run every day for five moons if it proved necessary for her.

Just the trek up the hill made Hawkpaw's muscles ache, and when they neared the top, a cloud covered the sun, giving the moors an ominous cast. "I want you to run up and down this hill, five times today, ten tomorrow, fifteen the next day, so on so forth. Your speed will improve with time, and it needs to be quickly."

The she-cat simply walked away, back towards camp, leaving him to face this challenge on his own. He was to run down the hill, to the large rock by the lake, then back up, five times. Hawkpaw gulped in a breath of fresh air, before plunging down the steep hill.

Running down hill wasn't hard at all, in fact, he did it easily, savoring the sweetness of it. It was at the moment that he reached the tall, moss and fungus coated rock that he realized that the brutal part was in store for him.

Pulling his front tabby striped legs in front of the back, he progressed up the steep incline. He needed to unsheathe his claws to get a better grip on the ground, and he pushed forward. By the time Hawkpaw reached the top of the hill for the first time, he was struggling to breathe.

His vision was blurred, and with the sun high above him, he was breaking out into a cold sweat. Down the hill he plunged once more, and struggled to get back up it. He repeated this three more times, and collapsed onto his side when he was finished.

Every breath was painful, and his whole body was numb. He had been so heavily overworked that death almost seemed like a luxury. A bird chirruped overhead and reminded him that he still was alive, and he still had a duty to help and protect his clan, if needed.

Instead of heading up in the direction of camp, Hawkpaw headed down towards the lake. The serene and peaceful waters, lapping gently at the shore enticed him, and made him long to be in its cold presence.

His paws left small imprints in the sand, and for a moment, Hawkpaw thought he saw a bigger paw print mirror his as he walked down the shore. Feeling tentative for a moment, Hawkpaw dabbed his paw lightly into the chilling water.

Instead of recoiling, like any sane WindClan cat would do, Hawkpaw took a step forward. It was followed by another step, and then another, soon Hawkpaw was belly deep in the water, and after that, his paws didn't even touch the sandy ground.

It was at that moment that Hawkpaw realized that he was swimming. Swirling around in circles, Hawkpaw realized that this came to him much easier than running did. Even better, this could build up his leg muscles, and then help him to run faster.

So for days on end, Hawkpaw ran his laps as he was ordered, but first, he swam in the lake. He was so at home in it, that he felt like he could swim over to the RiverClan camp and declare himself fit to be on of their warriors.

Yet, his family, excluding his father, was still in WindClan, so Hawkpaw would be a warrior of WindClan, as he was fully capable of being.

In the depths of the darkest forest in The Place of No Stars, a meeting was being held. A dark tabby with large muscles rippling under his gleaming pelt was plotting. Even though he had been dead for moons and moons, he wasn't rendered powerless.

He had a great amount of kin, living and breathing kin, in the clans, and he would make sure that his name would be anointed saint-like once he was finished. He was Tigerstar, the great leader that had been crestfallen when the tiny kit that he tried to kill got strong, and took all of his nine lives at once.

Now irritably scratching at the dying grass in the clearing, Tigerstar waited impatiently for all the cats to get there in time. "Father," a voice echoed from the side of the clearing. A tortoiseshell she-cat with two small kits padded in from the brush.

"Tawnypelt," Tigerstar purred, his gaze softening at his daughter. "It's such a shame that you were lost in battle. Berryleaf is a tyrant, you didn't start the conflict at the border patrol; you were only the victim of ambition."

Tawnypelt shrugged, and gave each kit a lick on the head. "Faithkit and Bravekit should be alive and breathing. I should have listened to Russetstar, and not gone on the patrol so close to giving birth."

"Well maybe they can be reborn into the body of two new kits," Tigerstar suggested, and then shook his head. "Never mind that."

Another tom, with piercing blue eyes, followed in by a golden tabby she-cat entered next. "Mothwing, Hawkfrost!" Tigerstar welcomed.

"Tigerstar," Mothwing mewed, dipping her head.

Hawkfrost had a mischievous glint in his eyes, but he didn't say anything. "So, why are we here, anyways?" Tawnypelt questioned.

"I felt that since my legacy has lived on in generations of cats, the immediate, you, Hawkfrost, Mothwing, and Bramblestar. But then their kits live on as well. Hawkfrost has Hawkpaw, Emberpaw, Tawnypaw, and Tigerpaw. On the other hand, Tawnypelt has Flamepaw, Tigerpaw, and Dawnpaw." Tigerstar explained.

"Seems like Tiger is a common name," Mothwing snorted.

"Anyways," Tigerstar continued, ignoring his daughter's remark. "Bramblestar already has power in ThunderClan, but he can't live on forever. He is already finding eyes for a new she-cat, Honeydapple. She will soon have his kits, and then they will take over in ThunderClan. Hawkpaw is finding your love for the water, Hawkfrost, so he will soon enough take over in RiverClan. Tawnypaw will be fine in WindClan, so her influence will reign there. Lastly, with Flamepaw realizing he's not cut out to be medicine cat, he will get to be deputy to legendary Dawnpaw."

"Amazing," Tawnypelt breathed, tucking her kits in closer to her. In a matter of a few years, Tigerstar could be known as a legend. No longer would the bad things he conquered show, all of the high points would ring loud and clear.

"But Honeydapple is so much younger than Bramblestar is!" Mothwing snarled. "Doesn't that seem wrong to you?"

"Dear Mothwing, you haven't experienced love, because you chose to be a medicine cat. If you had experienced it, you would know that no matter what the age, it is wonderful," Tigerstar told her, insightfully.

"Fine," she grumbled.

And as time would tell, Tigerstar's legend would play a _giant_ role in the clans, but not exactly as Tigerstar had planned it to be.

**How was it? What do you think the twist will be? I'll tell you now, the killer will be revealed in the epilogue, and the sequel will be based around her. So, I doubt you'll be able to guess the twist, because I'm so maniacle that you wouldn't maniacal that you won't even be able to guess it! Please review, and I'll update ASAP!**


	25. Chapter Twenty Two:  Blackout

**I didn't really give a chance for anyone to review, but two people did. Thank-you Kawakage and LaceyA.K.2410 for reviewing. In this chapter, it is set two moons ahead from where I left off (there will be frequent time jumps from now until the end ^^). It's very short, and I intended it to be so, because once Hawkpaw wakes up, there'll be a few surprises around the corner for the next chapter. So, enjoy~!**

**Chapter Twenty-Two**

The sun eagerly peaked above the moor, sending rays of cold light down on the camp. Hawkpaw stifled a yawn, and slipped out of his den. Lionpaw held a look of pride on her face, and Smokepaw masked his.

"You have the whole day to catch all you can," Ashstar told the two apprentices, and flicked her tail for them to be dismissed. The two bounded off in opposite directions, eagerly ready to be made warriors.

Hawkpaw purred, and padded over to his mentor, "What are we going to do today?" he asked, giving his chest a self-conscious lick.

"How about battle practice? We haven't done any in a long time, we've been working on your running skills for the majority of the time," Ashstar decided. Two moons earlier, Hawkpaw had struggled with catching up with his mentor, so Ashstar had him run laps.

Now, he was getting to be as fast as his mentor, if not faster. Swimming had improved his abilities, but he still had a lot to learn aside from that. Hawkpaw dipped his head, and followed his mentor back to the training ravine.

"Come at me," Ashstar instructed. Hawkpaw narrowed his eyes, his icy blue gaze deepening as he decided what he wanted to do. Making a rash decision, he pelted forward, and saw his mentor beginning to duck out.

He twisted on his paws, and bowled into her front legs. The she-cat let off a yowl of surprise, and the two rolled over one another. Hawkpaw ended up on top, pinning his mentor down to the ground.

"Get off me you great lump!" she spat at him, and Hawkpaw loosened his grasp. In a flash, Ashstar took advantage of him, and spun around, lashing out at him with a sheathed paw.

She unbalanced him greatly, and sent Hawkpaw spinning. Rushing forward, she head-butted into his side and sent him flying. Using his instincts, Hawkpaw righted himself, and ducked under his mentor's flashing paws.

He was soon underneath of her, and he had to make another quick decision. Using his trained hind legs, he kicked the she-cat off of him, and she hit the ground with her back, not her feet.

"Very good," the she-cat rasped, a purr edging into her cracking voice. Hawkpaw's eyes stretched wide in a panic, he had fought much harder than he had meant to! Fighting came to him like the waves crashed on the shore.

In the midst of the scuffle, he had forgotten that Ashstar was much older than he was, and she was frail as well. The gray she-cat smoothed out her pelt, and gave herself a thorough washing. "You're definitely one of the best apprentices I've ever trained."

"Thank-you," Hawkpaw purred, embarrassed at such high praise. "But I'm not that good; I'm not a born WindClan cat, so I can't amount to any of them. I _can_ prove myself worthy of being a warrior of this clan, but I'll never be as good as a pure-blooded WindClan apprentice."

"Of course not," Ashstar agreed, "I think you have the potential of being better. You carry the blood of three clans in your veins, and the relation to the fourth."

"What?" Hawkpaw breathed, his eyes stretching wide in disbelief. "I'm a pure ThunderClan cat! Nothing else!" he snarled, trying to shut out what his mentor was telling him, what he had pushed to the back of his mind for moons on end.

"Hawkpaw," the she-cat breathed. "You really know it, don't you? Deep inside of yourself, you know the truth."

In a blind rage, Hawkpaw snapped, "I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Hawkpaw, who is your father?" Ashstar asked.

"Bramblestar!" Hawkpaw cried, melting down.

"Hawkpaw, who is your father?" Ashstar repeated.

"Bramblestar, Bramblestar is my father!" Hawkpaw yowled as a light rain began to fall on them.

A silence fell over the ravine, and the rain picked up, the drops growing larger, and the wind gusting harder than normal. Ashstar made one last attempt, "Hawkpaw, who is your father?"

Water dripping from his whisker, and sliding down his fur, Hawkpaw screeched, "Hawkfrost!" After that, everything went black.

The same dark brown tabby let off a sinister cackle. His plan was all aligning perfectly. "Are you sure about this? I really don't want to leave my kits…" a ginger she-cat sighed, glancing nervously at the tabby.

_ "I'm positive_," the tom reassured. Another brown tabby padded up next to ginger she-cat, and gave her a lick on the cheek.

"Hawkfrost," the she-cat purred, her green eyes sparkling.

"I don't mind that you are mothering Bramblestar's kits. Win back my brother's trust. As long as Tawnypelt's two kits get a chance to live, in yours, everything will be fine," Hawkfrost purred.

"Are you sure about this, Squirrelflight?" Tawnypelt echoed, Faithkit and Bravekit at her side.

"I'm positive. You shouldn't have been killed, Tawnypelt, and your kits need a chance to live," Squirrelflight agreed. At once the lithe brown tabby body of Faithkit approached, and she burst up into a blinding light.

The light absorbed into Squirrelflight's belly, taking the position of one of her two kits. Slower than his sister, the mottled ginger frame of Bravekit morphed into a weaker light, and took over the body of Squirrelflight's other kit.

"Thank-you," Tawnypelt purred, rubbing the muzzle of her friend.

"No problem," Squirrelflight mewed.

"Now back to the plan…" the dark brown tabby with glinting amber eyes hissed maliciously.

**So, now the voting is up. What do you think I should call Lionpaw and Smokepaw? Smokestorm and Lionfang are in the lead, but if there's another name you'd request, please let me know and I'll consider it. The next chapter is uber long, so their warrior's ceremonies will be in it, plus the new surprises. So please review, and I'll update tomorrow...hopefully. I might not though, cuz tomorrow's my birthday! Please review! ~Sayonara~!**


	26. Chapter Twenty Three: Back

**Wow, I covered a lot of ground in this chapter, and there's a surprise at the very end of it. Thank you to everyone that reviewed, and your reviews are really what drive me to continue on writing, so thank-you for this! I hope you like it!**

**Chapter Twenty-Three**

Hawkpaw fizzed back into consciousness to find himself soaking wet. He was lying in the ravine, nearly submerged in water, where he had lost consciousness. Getting back up to his paws quickly, Hawkpaw glanced around.

Ashstar's scent hung faintly in the air, and from the look of it, evening was upon them. Hawkpaw flattened his ears against his head, and pelted back in the direction of camp.

The rain must have been falling for hours, because when he got to the first large hill, he fell flat on his face. Grass was displaced, and a spray of mud coated his front half.

_Why didn't Ashstar wake me up? _He grumbled quietly to himself, and got back up to his paws. Unsheathing his claws, Hawkpaw took the hill slowly, and continued on like this until he got back to camp.

The camp was deserted. Water pooled inside the ravine, and Hawkpaw realized that they must have evacuated due to flooding. He waded into the water, and heard a muffled cry.

Hawkpaw whirled around, trying to find the direction in which it was coming from. His issue with this was that it was raining so hard that he could barely see his whiskers. With the water lapping at his belly fur, he shut his eyes, trying to focus on the steadily growing fainter whimpers.

At last, Hawkpaw figured out that they were coming from the direction of the leader's den. Hawkpaw took off quickly, and as he neared the center of camp, he had to swim through the floodwaters.

A sliver of lightening coursed through the darkening sky, and Hawkpaw was able to make out a pitifully skinny figure standing on the small hill that led up to the leader's den.

The cat's fur was clinging to its pelt, and it looked ready to melt. Hawkpaw swam faster, and slid out of the water, up onto the hill. "Hawkpaw?" the cat breathed, the voice female.

Another lightning bolt rushed down to the ground, letting off a deafening shatter. Hawkpaw was clearly able to see the cat, and from the pelt, to the eyes, to the scent, Hawkpaw realized it was Cindershadow. "Cindershadow," he mewed, his voice quickly lost in the storm.

"Hawkpaw!" Cindershadow purred, and rubbed her muzzle up against the tom. "I had to leave the clan, I just had to!" she cried, hanging her head low.

"It's alright," he murmured, and helped her up to her paws. "I'm going to get us out of here, so you need to trust me."

Cindershadow nodded feebily, and Hawkpaw splashed down into the water on the other side of the hill. He sank down to his shoulders, but he could still walk. Cindershadow followed him tentatively, letting off a whimper as she entered the water.

Hawkpaw guided her through the murky floodwaters and up onto solid ground. Well, it would have been solid ground, if it hadn't been so rainy. Most of the ground swallowed their paws up.

Just by instinct, Hawkpaw was able to guide Cindershadow to the makeshift camp. He slid inside the den, and blinked his eyes to adjust to the gloom that it held. WindClan scent hung heavily in the air, and he saw the clan getting themselves warm and dry just inside.

Ashstar was inside the dip that made the leader's den, and she glanced at him, "Ahh, Hawkpaw, so nice of you to join us," she chirruped.

"To join you?" he spat irritably, attracting attention. "You're the cat that left me out there to drown! My nose was almost submerged when I woke up; I would have died!"

Ashstar shook her head, "Quiet down. I'm sorry I left you there; I just thought it would be an, an interesting challenge for you to figure out. But this survival of yours, and of your friends' lets me start this ceremony."

Cats were now staring at them, clumping together to figure out what was going on. "May all cats of WindClan gather here for a clan meeting?" Ashstar called, not loudly at all, for most of the clan was already keen on what was going on.

"Who is she?" the ragged voice of Tornear called out. "She smells like ThunderClan, surely WindClan isn't going to take in another wretched ThunderClan cat!"

Ashstar let off a light purr, "This issue isn't to be addressed now, Tornear, I'll cover it later. My first duty is to make a few cats warriors. They have proven themselves worthy multiple times over."

Bright eyed and bushy tailed, Lionpaw and Smokepaw padded forward to receive their warrior names.

"One cat is missing for this ceremony," Ashstar mewed warmly, flicking her tail for Hawkpaw to pad forward.

A burst of excitement, and nervousness coursed through Hawkpaw as he padded forward to receive his warrior name from Ashstar, "Are you sure about this?" he questioned.

"You wouldn't be up here if I wasn't," Ashstar whispered, and then raised her voice. "These three apprentices have trained long and hard, one making the transition from another clan. I'd wish to make each of them a warrior in their turn. Leaffrost, do you believe Smokepaw is ready to become a warrior?"

The dark brown tabby let off a chuckle, and meowed, "Of course he's ready, you couldn't have trained him any better."

Ashstar cuffed the tom around the ear, and then began, "Smokepaw, from this day forth you shall be known as Smokestorm. StarClan honors your courage and determination." Ashstar rested her muzzle on Smokestorm's head, and Smokestorm licked Ashstar's shoulder.

Ashstar glanced at Crowfeather, Lionpaw's mentor. "By StarClan, get on with the ceremony, Lionpaw's ready to become a warrior!" he hissed.

"Lionpaw, from this day forth you shall be known as Lionleap. StarClan honors your strength and perseverance." The two exchanged the ceremonial motions, and then Ashstar turned to him.

"Hawkpaw, my loyal apprentice. You've proved yourself ten times over that you're ready to become a warrior. Hawkpaw, from this day forth you shall be known as Hawkflight. StarClan honors your loyalty and freewill," Ashstar purred.

Hawkflight felt a glow of warmth course through his body as he stepped forward. Ashstar rested her gray muzzle on his head, and she whispered, "To my perfect apprentice, I couldn't have wished for more."

Hawkflight shuffled his paws slightly in embarrassment and licked his leader's shoulder in response. He took his place next to Lionleap and Smokestorm.

"My last order of business is that a ThunderClan she-cat has felt that she is out of place in her old home, and wants to move in with WindClan. She's already a trained warrior, and is very brave to make the trek here in such horrible weather," Ashstar began.

Hawkflight's pelt bristled. How did Ashstar know about Cindershadow's wishes? Was there something more to the quiet leader than he had previously estimated?

Cindershadow was unnerved as well, her whiskers twitching slightly, and her tailtip stirring.

No cat really seemed to object. After seeing Hawkflight and his sibling's progress, they no longer doubted ThunderClan. Tornear still grumbled to himself, but didn't complain much more than that.

"I'd like to welcome her into WindClan, if there are no objections," Ashstar meowed, her blue eyes full of warmth.

"I…I'm very thankful that you want to let me into WindClan, and I'd be honored if you'd accept me. ThunderClan has changed so much since Hawkpa—I mean Hawkflight—left. Bramblestar has changed as well, and he's leaving every cat strange," Cindershadow started.

"How so?" Ashstar inquired.

"Dare I say it," Cindershadow meowed, glancing at Squirrelflight, "He's fallen for Honeydapple, and he's forcing her into a relationship with him. And then the outsiders, what the clan has been calling them, are almost taking over. They're forcing unnecessary opinions on him, and he's being influenced by them."

Squirrelflight was visibly bristling from the nursery area, her belly large with Bramblestar's kits. "Forcing?" she echoed.

"Yes, she caught his affections, and now he is insisting that they are mates. Molewhisker has even been whispering about her expecting his kits. But that's beside the point. The outsider apprentices have even become warriors, Ice and Flicker are now Iceshard and Flickernight!" Cindershadow spat.

Hawkflight sat down next to the trembling she-cat, and rested his tail on her shoulder. He was much larger than she was now, a strange sight for him to see. "What about the others? What were they…Sky, Harp…and Storm, was it?"

"Sky is Skyblaze, Harp is Harpsong, and _Lightning_ is Lightningstrike. Skyblaze is back in the nursery, expecting Lightningstrike's kits, and Harpsong is mentoring Dawnpaw," Cindershadow continued.

"So everything is broken up now, and confused," Hawkflight sighed, and flopped down onto the sandy floor of the cave. He should be taking his vigil now, but it seemed like Ashstar didn't want him to just yet.

Lionleap and Smokestorm were sitting by the entrance, but his former mentor never signaled for him to join them. "Why don't you and Cindershadow go outside of the cave and guard, I have a feeling that the rain has stopped."

Hawkflight dipped his head to Ashstar, and as the leader had predicted, the rain had stopped. It was a chilly evening, but now all of the clouds had cleared from the skies, vanished as if they hadn't actually been there to start.

The stars were twinkling above, smiling down at them as if to say hello. Cindershadow sat down next to him, her breath coming off in white billows of heat, disappearing into the atmosphere after a few heartbeats.

Nearly full, the moon glowed in a vibrant hue, rippling along the lakeshore. It was beautiful, and the two cats were bathed in moonlight, their pelts turned nearly white. Not a word was exchanged through the whole night, but when Hawkflight glanced at Cindershadow, and she looked back at him, he knew that she expressed the same feelings towards him as he had for her.

Everything was ending beautifully, and while her tail brushed against his, Hawkflight broke the ancient truce, and let off a purr of pure bliss.

**Eh? What did I tell you? Definitely a surprise. Wow, many questions. What did you think of the name Hawkflight? The meaning of the name will be revealed later, in either the last chapter, second to last, or epilogue, not positive yet. So please review, and I'll update ASAP (school is out on Tuesday, and I'm doubting even going on Tuesday X3 )**


	27. Chapter Twenty Four: Past Kills

**I got my old computer back! It fried (or something like that) and had to be sent in for repairs. It was in for about three weeks, and I finally got it back last night, so I can update again~! (And I'm so close to the end as well ^^)**

**Chapter Twenty-Four**

After holding his vigil, Hawkflight was assigned to lead a patrol back to camp to see if the floodwaters had fallen. "Choose whomever you like," Ashstar had told him, and he would do just that.

Hawkflight gave himself a quick grooming, and then got up. "Willowleaf," he mewed to the gray she-cat.

"Hawkflight," she dipped her head lightly, "What can I do for you?"

"Would you and Tawnypaw like to join me on the patrol to check and see if the floodwaters are down?" Hawkflight asked, curling his tail around his paws.

"We'd love to," Willowleaf purred, and bounded off to find her apprentice. _One cat down, one to go_, Hawkflight thought to himself. Padding over to Sunbeam, he asked her the same answer, and got the same response.

The tortoiseshell she-cat had always been very eager to go on patrols with him, and Hawkflight liked that about them. In the lead of the patrol, Hawkflight laughed a bit when Sunbeam cursed at the mud.

In fact, the mud was swallowing their paws whole at every step they took. But the gushy sound and the cool feeling was rather pleasant to him. "Let's pick up the pace," he meowed to the group, and picked up a slow run.

Tawnypaw fell into place next to him, and Hawkflight let off an unnoticed purr at the thought of his small sister becoming a warrior. Ashstar hadn't yet talked to the mentor's yet, but since Hawkflight had been made a warrior the night earlier, his siblings' ceremonies couldn't be too far off.

The sun shined down on the ground, and small billows of heat came off. By the time they reached the camp, Hawkflight's paws were numb. Although he enjoyed the cold mud, it did really freeze his paws.

"That's lovely," Willowleaf hissed, as they looked down at the camp. Nests were strewn to and fro, and a good mouse-tail high of water was still left at the very center of camp.

"Let's check it out," Hawkflight gulped, and slid down the muddy slope into the camp. The medicine cat's den, up higher than the rest of the dens, was just barely damp. All the herbs seemed to be in place, and it was only a tad bit muddy.

Ashstar's den was the same way. She'd need new moss for her nest, and scrape out a bit of mud, but other than that, her den was practically unharmed.

The warrior's section of camp, however, was a different story. If everything wasn't submerged, it was torn apart, coated completely in mud, and disgusting. "Looks like this is a _perfect_ time for me to move into the warriors den," Hawkflight muttered sarcastically.

Sunbeam butted him in the shoulder, "Don't worry about it. Ashstar probably won't have us go back to camp until everything is fixed."

"Hopefully," Hawkflight prayed. The apprentice's den, though, faired the worst damage of all of the dens. A small pit lay where the den was supposed to be. There were small tendrils of moss telling the cats that moss _used_ to be there.

Everything was scratched up, and it looked horrible. The little tunnel that led to the nursery was soaked, and it had a bit of mud collapse into it, but it was still inhabitable.

At last, the elder's den was also scattered apart. The camp was devastated in all, and it would take a good amount of time to get back to normal. "Alright…let's head back to camp…or at least our shelter," Hawkflight sighed, taking the lead once more.

Tawnypaw brushed past him briskly, moving quickly ahead. Hawkflight glanced back at Willowleaf, and the she-cat shrugged. "I think she might be upset that you were made a warrior before her."

"Oh," Hawkflight murmured, and was in a daze back to camp. Once back inside the badger den, he was bombarded by questions from Ashstar.

"What was it like? Will we be able to move back in? If we can't, how much time will it take to repair?" the she-cat mewed continuously.

Hawkflight finally interrupted her, "It wasn't pleasant. Your den and the medicine cat's den are slightly damp. They'll be fine, and if we want to move back in, those dens will have to be used for the whole clan to sleep in."

"Which we obviously won't want to do," Ashstar interjected.

"Alright…" Hawkflight sighed, and then continued on. "We'll probably want to move in within a quarter moon. The warrior's den, apprentice's den, and elder's den faired the most damage. We should give the camp a few days to dry out, and have moss get collected. When we start repairing, the apprentice's den should be attended to first, because it is the worst. Maybe building up a barrier around the dens would help with future damage. Other than that, if we can get moss back into the dens, we can most likely move in within a quarter moon."

"Thank-you, Hawkflight. Why don't you give yourself the rest of the day off? I'll have Owlwhisker arrange some patrols for gathering moss, so grab something to eat, and just sleep and relax," Ashstar suggested.

Hawkflight dipped his head and grabbed a mouse off of the fresh kill pile. He padded over to the warrior's cave, and laid down in a batch of moss. The familiar scent of Cindershadow washed over him, and he looked up at the she-cat.

"How does it feel to be a warrior?" she asked, lying down next to him.

"Nice," he purred, and took a bit of the mouse. He shoved it towards her. "I don't know, I don't feel very different. I mean, I have to answer to the name 'Hawkflight' now instead of 'Hawkpaw,' but other than that, nothing's changed."

Cindershadow nodded, and took a bite, pushing it back to him. "You're lucky, Ashstar really trusts you. When I became a warrior, I had to wait _moons_ before I was allowed to lead a patrol. It's your first day as a full fledged warrior, and you've already led one."

Polishing off the mouse, Hawkflight shrugged, "I was Ashstar's apprentice, she knows what I'm capable of. I think she just felt bad about leaving me to drown out there yesterday."

Cindershadow rolled her eyes, and Hawkflight yawned. The light was dull in the cave, and Hawkflight felt as though he could close his eyes and sleep for an eternity. "Why don't you get some rest?" the she-cat suggested.

Hawkflight nodded, and parted his jaws in yet another yawn. He rested his head down on his mossy nest, and let the gentle waves of sleep lap over him, and drag him into the ocean of blackness.

Hawkflight was dreaming. He was in a very dark forest, and the sky above him was pitch black, only a thin shaft of light coming from a claw scratch of a moon. Hawkflight's pelt was bristling, and he unsheathed his claws, glancing around.

Not knowing where he was, or why he was there, Hawkflight padded forward. His front paw hit something hard, and it sent him flying. Shakily, Hawkflight got up to his paws, and padded back over to the item that had tripped him.

It was a cat's body, cold and lifeless. It was the body of a light brown tabby tom, which had a severely crushed rib cage as well as several scratches. He was surrounded by a pool of blood that clogged Hawkflight's pads, and stained his pelt.

"No!" Hawkflight hissed, and gagged, dashing off in the opposite direction. Next he came upon a gray dappled tail sticking out from the brush. Hawkflight pushed the leaves of the bush away and saw that the she-cat was beautiful, except for the fact that her throat was torn out, and he was yet again standing in a pool of blood.

Dashing off in the opposite direction, Hawkflight came upon a small tortoiseshell tom, with a bright ginger tail. His neck and throat were torn apart, and Hawkflight almost puked at the sight of it.

He couldn't escape the bodies now, there were too many of them. Staggering into a dark clearing, he was greeted by a gentle, "Hello."

Hawkflight's head shot up immediately, and the gut wrenching feeling in his stomach suddenly went away. "W-who are you?" he stuttered nervously.

The tom laughed, and stepped out of the shadows. He had glinting amber eyes, but they were full of warmth. Muscles rippled beneath his pelt, but he had no aggressive stance at all.

"Surely you know who I am by now. I mean, I am your grandfather," the tom mewed cautiously.

"Tigerstar?" Hawkflight breathed in awe, and then pushed back, farther away from the malicious tom. "Why am here? What are you going to do to me?"

"Peace, young one," Tigerstar nearly purred. "Over the time that I have spent in the dark forest, I have learned, and I have righted my wrongs. The reason I am here is that there is a cat that wants to see you."

Gulping, Hawkflight nodded, "So then you're not going to harm any more cats?" he asked, slowly piecing together that all the dead cats he had seen on his way out were the cats that Tigerstar had killed.

"No," Tigerstar promised, taking a look back at the bushes every so often.

Hawkflight let off a sigh of relief. Every cat said that Tigerstar was this evil and torturous monster, but he really wasn't. He seemed kind and sincere, and really like he wanted to change.

"I know what you're thinking," Tigerstar guessed, "You're probably wondering how I got to be good, after I murdered so many cats, blind by my own ambition. My answer is simple though."

"What?" Hawkflight inquired.

"I found love. Not with a she-cat, like a mate, but I found love in a different aspect. My son, shortly after he came to join me here, told me that his mate was expecting his kits," Tigerstar continued.

A bush behind Tigerstar began to tremble as a cat pushed its way through. _Is Bramblestar going to come through there?_ Hawkflight thought nervously to himself.

A paw moved into the light, dark brown and tabby striped. As the head of the cat entered the light, his eyes snapped open as a paw prodded his side. "Ashstar wants you for a patrol," came the hiss of Leaffrost.

Hawkflight got up his paws, and padded over to her. _Some dream, _he thought inwardly, shaking it off.

**So what did you think? The next chapter will be a time gap, and then it will lead up to the two part finale ^^ Please drop a review by, and to those that review/read, thank-you for being patient with me.**


	28. Chapter Twenty Five: Destiny Revealed

**Here's Chapter Twenty Five everyone! This is the second to last chapter, + and epilogue, + a synopsis for the next story. This chapter kind of goes all over the place, because there are a lot of gaps to get to the main conclusion. So thank-you to those that reviewed, and I hope you enjoy~!**

**Chapter Twenty Five**

A few days passed, and Hawkflight's limbs were painstakingly tired. If there was a patrol that was supposed to go to the camp to see if it was inhabitable, he would have to be on it.

Ashstar approached him the next day, and opened her mouth to ask a question, but Hawkflight cut her off, "If you want me to lead another 'let's see how bad the water damage is,' patrols, I won't."

Taken a bit aback, Ashstar sighed, "I was going to say thank-you for all the work that you've put into this. I've probably been driving you a bit crazy with all these patrols?"

"A bit crazy?" Hawkflight butted in.

"Yes, a _bit_ crazy, but it's been incredibly useful, and I'd like to say that when we move back into camp, you don't have to do any work when the camp is being repaired," Ashstar explained.

Letting off a sigh of relief, Hawkflight curled back up in his nest. Ashstar padded away. For the next few nights, he kept having the same reoccurring dream where he was just about to see his father, but then he woke up.

"What's the matter?" Cindershadow asked him one time when he had shot his head up angrily, in distress.

"Nothing," he muttered, and curled back up.

The next morning, all of the work with the reconstruction of the camp had been finished, so they moved back in. Owlwhisker was calling together small groups of patrols to check the borders, and restock the fresh kill pile.

"Hawkflight!" came the snap of Owlwhisker. Hawkflight bounded over to him, and Owlwhisker continued, "Take out a hunting patrol, go hunt down by the RiverClan border. Three cats maximum!"

Hawkflight dipped his head, and knew exactly whom he'd take. "Cindershadow, Sunbeam, hunting patrol!" he called into the warrior's den.

Cindershadow surfaced quickly, while Sunbeam was groaning and muttering as to why she needed to get up so early. The patrol set off towards the WindClan border, and Sunbeam veered off of their path as a rabbit shot by.

She came back a minute or so later with a slightly bloody rabbit dangling from her jaws. Hawkflight called, "Great catch!" to her.

He flicked his ears forward at a bunch of foraging pigeons. Slipping forward, he broke out into a full out dash, and shot up a nearby boulder. As the pigeons took off into the air, Hawkflight launched himself off of the boulder, and caught one in mid-air.

"Wow!" Cindershadow breathed, and padded over to him, nuzzling his muzzle.

"Very touching moment," Sunbeam growled, "But shouldn't we get on with this?"

Hawkflight nodded, "Of course," and rested his tail on Cindershadow's shoulder. His mate was visibly bristling.

Cindershadow shook it off, and moved in the opposite direction, into the heather and gorse. Hawkflight padded down to the border between RiverClan and WindClan, and drew in the beautiful scent of the river.

It had always captivated him, and the shimmering surface couldn't have been more welcoming. Making sure his shadow didn't touch the water; Hawkflight shot a paw into the water, a large fish landing on the bank next to him.

He bit into its head, and it fell still. "Prey thief!" came a snarl from across the river.

Hawkflight perked his ears, "What do you mean?" he challenged. "The river is the border, it doesn't belong to just one clan. WindClan takes water from this stream all the time, because we _share_ it."

The cat was Rippletail, and he was bristling very heavily. "You're a prey thief, and I'm going to tell Mistystar."

Rolling his eyes, Hawkflight picked up the fish, and returned to the central meeting place the hunting patrol had picked. Sunbeam joined him soon after, with a rabbit and a wren.

Cindershadow came after, having caught a mouse and a pine marten. The three returned to camp, their jaws full of their catch. A light breeze parted Hawkflight's fur, and he drew in the fresh scents around him.

After spending nearly a half moon shut up in their makeshift camp, it was reassuring to have their old one back. He set his catch on the fresh kill pile, and Tawnypaw came out of the apprentice's den.

She shot him a glare of pure malice, and grabbed the rabbits, entering the nursery with them. Hawkflight sighed, "What did I do to deserve this?" he asked himself, before retiring to the warrior's den for the night.

It had been sunhigh when the patrol, and vibrant shades of orange and red streaked the sky, foreshadowing a bloody occasion.

As the sky turned black, and the stars dappled it, Cindershadow settled in next to him. "What's on your mind?" she asked him.

Drinking in her sweet scent, Hawkflight sighed, "It's Tawnypaw. She's angry that I became a warrior before she did. She wanted us to all become warriors at the same time."

"Oh," Cindershadow murmured, and gazed down at her paws. She pressed up against him, and whispered, "You should get some sleep, knowing Owlwhisker, he'll put you on another hundred patrols."

Hawkflight let out a grunt of agreement, and he closed his eyes. Sleep came easily to him. It was no longer a foreign subject; it was now his close friend. He saw the face of his sister just before everything faded into blackness.

Instead of dreaming of his father, a different thought plagued his sleep. Red blood stained the ground all around him, and he was in the haze of a deep battle. A deep mahogany fog swirled around him.

He could only just hear the screeches of battle surrounding him. Trying to shut it out, Hawkflight pushed his paws to his ears. The sound wouldn't go away, though, and then a distinct screech was sounded.

_Tawnypaw!_ He panicked, and shot through the battling cats. So many were lying still in pools of blood. "Help me!" Tawnypaw wailed again, and the gurgling sound of blood welling from a throat overwhelmed him.

"Tawnypaw!" Hawkflight yowled, and pushed through the cats until he came upon her. Instead of Tawnypaw being lifeless on the ground, she was standing over a cat, her eyes hardened and narrowed.

"You're next," Tawnypaw snickered, and leaped at him.

"NO!" Hawkflight roared, and he felt her jaws clamped down on his throat. Everything was fading away.

Hawkflight's eyes snapped open, and he was panting. Cindershadow raised her head from next to him, "You have to tell me what happened in your dream this time," she told him.

Letting off a sigh, Hawkflight explained what had happened in his dream, the battle, the RiverClan cats, and last, Tawnypaw.

Cindershadow's brow furrowed, "That doesn't sound pleasant," she mewed, and curled up closer to him. "The camp is safe for now, I doubt that a patrol of RiverClan warriors will come and attack the camp."

However Cindershadow didn't realize how horribly wrong she was.

A quarter moon passed, and so did a gathering. RiverClan seemed remotely hostile towards WindClan, Mistystar even said that she caught a foreign cat hunting in the stream, but she didn't name names.

The camp was all the way rebuilt, and the strange dreams that Hawkflight had been having simply seemed to stop. One night, after a long day of patrols and work for Ashstar, Hawkflight fell into a light sleep.

Across the sky were streaks of red, even though it was close to moonhigh. The stars seemed to glow even brighter, as if they were preparing for more cats to join them. A loud screech was sounded, and every cat rose from his or her nests to see the commotion.

Waves of RiverClan cats were pouring into camp, their eyes narrowed, claws unsheathed, purposefully ready to draw blood.

A mottled blue-gray tom confronted Hawkflight, and he immediately tackled Hawkflight. Using his agility and lithe frame to his advantage, Hawkflight slipped out from under the tom, and scored his claws over the tom's side.

"This will teach you cowards to steal RiverClan prey!" the tom snarled, and lunged at Hawkflight once more.

"The river forms the border, it belongs to both clans!" Hawkflight shot back, and dodged the blow. He pulled the tom's legs out from underneath of him, and pinned him down on the ground.

Not for the first time, Hawkflight recognized the pure fear in his eyes. Hawkflight stepped off of him, and hissed, "Go back to your camp, and never come back here!"

With his tail in between his legs, the tom shot out of camp. Letting off a purr of content, Hawkflight neglected to notice a cat shooting towards him. The cat knocked into him, and sent him flying.

Hawkflight's head smashed into a nearby rock, sending him unconscious upon impact.

Raising his head up, Hawkflight looked around, to see a starry cat standing before him. "Am I dead?" he managed to choke out, his blue eyes wild with fear.

"No," purred a calico she-cat. "You're not dead, but we have a mission for you."

Hawkflight dipped his head, and looked into the pool that was set before him. His eyes stretched wide at what he had seen, and now he knew what his destiny was. Gulping back the fear, Hawkflight felt the nose of the she-cat on his forehead, sending him right back to the battlefield, where his true destiny would become clear.

**Yes, I will tell you what he saw in the pool in the next (and final) chapter. So please drop a review, tell me what you think, and what you think his destiny is supposed to be ^^ Again, please review, and I'll update ASAP!**


	29. Chapter Twenty Six: Fall of the Hawk

**Here's the conclusion to it, I hope you enjoy it! I spent a lot of time writing it, and a lot of tears over it as well. It's finally over (well there's still an epilogue...) So enjoy~!**

**Chapter Twenty Six**

As Hawkflight came back into consciousness, he saw the cat that knocked him into the rock. He was Rippletail, the same cat he had encountered when he caught a fish from the stream.

Using all the force possible, Hawkflight pushed Rippletail off of him, and then clamped down on Rippletail's hind leg. Rippletail let off a yowl of pain, and scored his claws along Hawkflight's side.

"You started this battle!" Hawkflight hissed, and pummeled Rippletail's belly with his paws as he was tackled once again. Rippletail's eyes were narrowed, and he had a look of pure malice in his eyes.

Rippletail lunged for his throat, and Hawkflight rolled out of the way easily, but he heard the snap of teeth very close to his ear. Letting off a shudder, Hawkflight realized that Rippletail wouldn't give up until one of them was dead.

Getting serious, Hawkflight unsheathed his claws, and raked them down Rippletail's belly. The tom let off shriek, and lunged at his neck again. "Hawkflight!" came the call of Tigerpaw.

He butted into Rippletail's side, and narrowed his eyes, "You've lost the battle, give up for StarClan's sake!"

Rippletail's fur, or what was left of it, was bristling heavily, and he looked ready to attack Tigerpaw.

Tigerpaw hissed, "I just saved your life, you realize. Now get out of here!" Rippletail turned tail, and fled out of camp. Tigerpaw shook his head, "How mouse-brained of him," he muttered.

"Thanks," Hawkflight mewed to his brother; "You saved me from ending a life unnecessarily."

Tigerpaw shrugged, and ran back out into the heat of battle. Hawkflight turned around, and winced as he saw cats lying still in pools of blood. Shaking his head, he tuned into a loud screech of pure agony.

He recognized the voice to be Tawnypaw's. Dashing forward, he parted through the yowls and shrieks, the flying fur, and splattering blood. Assuming the worst from his dream, Hawkflight came across her body.

She was falling limp under the grasp of Mistystar. Hawkflight let out a caterwaul, and tackled her. His destiny was to end soon, but he wouldn't allow Mistystar to murder his sister in cold blood.

"What?" Mistystar breathed as he tackled her. She hadn't expected a warrior to be attacking the leader of RiverClan.

"You tried to kill my sister!" Hawkflight spat, his blue eyes wild. Mistystar bit down hard into his shoulder, but Hawkflight didn't notice it. Although he couldn't take her, Hawkflight could leave a nasty scar, and end one horrible and purely polluted life of hers.

As a steady trickle of blood fell down Hawkflight's shoulder, and onto the ground, he had only just one aim, the neck. His teeth connected with Mistystar's neck, and warm blood gushed into his mouth.

Mistystar let off a cough, and fell limp in his jaws. Hawkflight released his grasp, and her blood fell from her mouth. "Mom!" Reedwhisker, her deputy, and son, yowled behind him.

"You," Reedwhisker spat, and Hawkflight simply stood there. He felt Reedwhisker leap onto him, and he was numb to the pain. As claws raked his side, Hawkflight reflected on what had happened before.

As his blue eyes had gazed upon the pool, he saw Tigerstar weeping in the dark clearing. "Why?" he choked out, "Why did I have to kill?"

Another dark tabby tom sat next to him, his blue eyes glittering with sadness. "I wish StarClan would forgive you," he mewed, his voice filled with pure sympathy, and Hawkflight thought he saw a tear rolling down the cat's cheek.

Tigerstar glared at the tabby, his son, and spat, "Don't speak of them here! They know that I've changed so much, yet they've still cursed me enough to let me rot in this damned place!"

The tabby lowered his head sadly, and wrapped his tail around his paws in denial, but he knew it was true. The two of them had changed, and they deserved a second chance, but none would be granted.

"Hawkfrost," Tigerstar mewed, his voice barely more than a whisper.

"Yes, father?" Hawkfrost asked.

"If they have to choose one of us, it can be you," Tigerstar sniffed, and stared at his son, who could only just blink in response. Both of the toms wanted a second chance at life, and for Tigerstar to give up the chance for his son, meant that he really had changed more than any cat.

Hawkflight had looked at the calico she-cat, and asked, "What am I supposed to do, then?"

The calico smiled, and whispered into his ear, "You're going to give him that second chance. A loss needs to be made in order for him to be recognized as a worthy cat, so you will be that loss."

Hawkflight's blue eyes stretched wide, "I…I have to die?"

"Yes," she murmured quietly. "Your loss will not be made in vain, though. Both Tigerstar and Hawkfrost will be given the chance that they deserve."

Hawkflight simply dipped his head.

Now Reedwhisker was tearing at Hawkflight's fur, sending blood and fur flying into the air, to fall onto the ground, and to be forgotten. Reedwhisker flipped him around so he had a good aim at his throat.

As he lunged forward, a meeting in StarClan was taking place.

"Spottedleaf, I want you to go and ensure that his journey will be pleasant," the ginger tom, Thunder, mewed softly to the medicine cat, and turned to a tom with large, unblinking amber eyes. "Owlstar, go fetch them for me. Take Bluestar with you."

The light brown tabby tom nodded, and walked in perfect sync with Bluestar into the farthest edges of StarClan territory, where it merged with the Place of No Stars. Bluestar's brow was furrowed, as she was worried.

Taking in a deep breath, she stepped over the barrier between the two realms that symbolized yin and yang, heaven and hell. Owlstar soon joined her, his starry fur glowing a bit more than normal.

"Where to find him," Bluestar murmured sadly, the memories of her once loyal deputy were sour and bitter. She almost didn't want to accept the fact that he would soon become a living and breathing cat once more.

He would be given a second chance, a chance that she didn't want to grant him. "I know you have your worries, Bluestar," Owlstar told her, holding his head high, "But all of StarClan has agreed on it, all will be forgiven soon enough."

Bluestar nodded, and they continued to walk through the eerie and shadowed forest, together. They finally came across a clearing, where a bat let off a raspy screech, and flew above them, its red eyes glinting.

Owlstar pushed through the bushes first, and Bluestar followed them. Tigerstar raised his head, and stared at the two starry-coated cats with his eyes opened wide. "This really can't be," he breathed.

"On behalf of the whole of StarClan, you and your son, Hawkfrost have been granted a second chance at life," Owlstar began.

"Yet, if you choose to abuse it," Bluestar continued, and swallowed back her fears, "You will be eliminated on the spot. Your destiny will be over, and your soul won't even be able to lurk in the luxury of The Place of No Stars."

Tigerstar dipped his head, "There will be no abuse."

Hawkflight looked at them, "But I thought a sacrifice had to be made first…."

"Oh there will be a sacrifice," Owlstar promised.

Teeth met Hawkflight's neck, and blood bubbled out of the gaping wound. Everything would be over shortly, his destiny almost complete. Reedwhisker stepped off of him, and Hawkflight hit the ground, blood pooling around him.

"Hawkflight!" Cindershadow shrieked, and bounded forward to him. She buried her nose into his fur, the small amounts of blood coming off of her joining with his. "Oh Hawkflight, don't leave me!"

Hawkflight began to speak, but it was slightly muffled by the oozing of blood, and his depleting strength. "I love you, Cindershadow, don't you forget it." A stream of blood came out of Hawkflight's mouth, and his eyes began to glaze over.

"No!" Cindershadow wailed remorsefully, "Don't leave me! Don't leave our kits! Don't make me raise them on my own!"

"I'm sorry," Hawkflight whispered, his strength nearly gone.

"Are you ready?" Owlstar asked Tigerstar and Hawkfrost.

"What is the sacrifice?" Hawkfrost demanded once more, his worries growing even larger at the thought of an innocent cat being sacrificed for him.

"The sacrifice is arriving," Bluestar reassured him.

Hawkflight's strength faded away, and his sides grew still. He was gone, now to be recognized as a savior among the ranks of StarClan. Blinking his eyes open, he saw a beautiful tortoiseshell she-cat with stars glowing in her fur.

"Hawkflight," she purred happily, and pressed her nose to his. "I have two cats that would like to meet you." She bounded forward, and Hawkflight bounded after him. It didn't take long for him to realize that his fur was glowing white as well, and that he was no longer in pain.

He passed through a thin film of shimmering light. Squinting, Hawkflight took in a breath of awe; he was now in the hunting grounds of StarClan. The tortoiseshell she-cat flicked her tail for him to continue following her.

Hawkflight pelted after, and skidded to a halt as she did. Two dark brown tabbies were sitting, together, their eyes closed. The only differentiation between the two was that one had a white underbelly.

"Meet your sacrifice," Bluestar mewed to them. Their eyes snapped open, one vibrant amber, and the other chilling blue.

Hawkfrost let off a gasp, and turned to Bluestar, "You made my son die so that I could live?"

"Father," Hawkflight purred. He had pieced together that Bramblestar wasn't his true father shortly after he had joined WindClan. His identity hadn't been revealed until a bit later on, though.

Hawkflight pushed his muzzle against his father's. "Have a good life, a great second chance at life," he wished the two, and closed his eyes. When he opened them back up, both of them were gone.

"Come," a bright ginger tabby tom called, "You need to be properly congratulated for your deeds."

Back amongst the living cats, Cindershadow let off an ear-piercing wail, and then narrowed her eyes. "STOP!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, gathering the attention of all of the fighting cats.

All eyes were placed on her, and they soon found their way to Hawkflight. "Hawkflight!" Ashstar cried, and bounded over to him. She buried her nose in his dark tabby fur.

"Hawkflight will not have been lost in vain!" Cindershadow hissed. She turned to Mistystar, who was recovering from her lost life. "Take RiverClan back to camp, this battle is over."

Instead of arguing the point, Mistystar simply summoned her cats back to her, and flicked her tail for them to follow her. Slowly, half of the cats poured out of camp. The words that Ashstar had murmured to Hawkflight had gone unnoticed.

'I wish I could have done more for you, my nephew,' were the words that she had murmured.

**It's over! Please drop a review, telling me what you think, and I'll post the epilogue tomorrow.**


	30. Epilogue: Witnessed

**I'm sorry, I'm a bad person! I was supposed to wait for tomorrow to post this, but I couldn't help myself! So to all of you that guessed who the killer was, bit your nails in worry about the ThunderClan cats, will be reassured (not really) to know her identity at last *snickers* ^^**

**Epilogue**

The artist stared off at the moon. At the gathering, it had been announced that Hawkflight of WindClan had passed away in a recent battle. She shut her eyes tightly, sad that her former companion had been lost.

"Poor Hawkflight," she murmured quietly. It had also been announced that his mate, Cindershadow, was expecting his kits. Not quite sure what to make of that, The Artist, let off a gentle sigh.

She had once been in love with him, but when Bramblestar had exiled him and his family, everything had changed. The cat she loved the most dearly of all had been taken away.

Apparently the battle had been sparked when a cat had been found hunting from the river that separated WindClan and RiverClan territories.

A light rain had been falling during the gathering, but no clouds had covered the moon, it still stayed shining clear. The rain had been progressing, and now thunder and lightning shook and illuminated the dense forest.

The Artist drew in a deep breath, knowing that she should return to camp before she got sick. A cat had snuck up behind her, without her knowing. The blood of the prey she had caught earlier stained her muzzle and paws.

"Are you okay?" the cat called, seeing the blood. The Artist whirled around to face him. Her eyes were wild with the lust to kill, and even though he was related to her by blood, she needed to fulfill that urge.

If she didn't…things could turn out purely deadly. A twisted smile worked its way onto her face, and she walked forward gracefully, "Dear brother, you'll always think well of me, right?"

"W-what do you mean?" he stuttered, a bit nervous. "Of course I'll always think well of you, you're my sister, how could I ever be disdainful towards you?"

"That's good to hear," she purred, a malicious and slightly evil purr. Unsheathing her claws, and exposing her fangs, she leapt at him, and landed on him. "Goodbye dear brother," she snickered.

The last word he was able to utter before her fangs sunk into his throat, was, "HAZELDAWN!" Unfortunately enough for The Artist, Hazeldawn, lightning had lit up the clearing as her teeth connected with his fangs, and one cat, one single cat, had witnessed the event, and knew the truth.

**Alright, well, I think that every single one of you guessed who she was at one point or another *groans and goes to look at all of the reviews* So congrats to: Cloudstep, Silverstarfan, Loststream, Darkness of the Eclipse, Kawakage, feirce fire, and Ultraviolet1321. All of you correctly guessed who the killer was at one point or another. Yet, I'm sorry, though, none of you get an award, because every single one of you double crossed yourselves, and had to guess a different cat at one point or another. So I hope you enjoyed this little story of mine, and my now lost baby sister. Please leave a review and tell me how you liked it. Give me a rating too, out of ten (0 being lowest, 10 being highest) and please give a small summary as to why you feel that way. Constructive criticism is welcome ^^  
**

**So now we have the cats that have been in the running for the murderer, and all but one being falsely accused XD: Cindershadow, Hazeldawn, Tawnypaw, Whitewing, Honeydapple, Brightheart, Sandstorm, Ferncloud, and Squirrelflight  
**


	31. Synopsis: Phases of the Moon

**Alright, here's the synopsis for the sequel of Running with the Wind! It's going to be called Phases of the Moon, and base around two kits. There's a new poll on my profile for which two kits you want to be the main characters (out of four). I don't know when I'm going to start it, I kind of like the peace of not having a story...but I promise you I'll put it up within the next week (so by next monday).**

**Synopsis**

The calm before the storm, two and a half moons after the great battle, four small kits are born. Two of them have an evil lurking in their pasts, but have sworn that they have changed. Throughout their lives they will have to prove themselves worthy of their futures. As the phases of the moon are coming into completion, these kits will be sent on adventures that their ancestors could only dream of. They will have to expose a deadly killer for who she truly is, before the deadly rampant bleeds through the borders, and unleashes a wrath of fury upon all of the clans.

Phases of the Moon

ETA: August 8th, 2010

**Okay, I might post it earlier, maybe later, but that's the expected date. So again, check the poll out on my profile, and check out the new short story I posted, called Frostedpaw's Dreams ^^ Please drop a review here, and there. Sayonara!**


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